Stay
by C0untryGirl
Summary: Kaly and Zack never thought their paths would cross again after she left the way she did. When they do, they are both in for a surprise when she gets a chance to be a valet. Old feelings come flying back, and things that neither of them knew are revealed. What will they do with what they find out? (picked the title because of Rihanna/Mikky Ekko song)
1. Chapter 1

"I'm serious."

"I'm aware of this, that's what makes it so horrible." Zack laughed as he rolled over and tucked his hands under his pillow."

Kaly took her pillow and smacked him on the head, which made him sit up and they engaged in a pillow fight, followed by giggling as he grabbed her hands playfully and she breathed in his face, causing him to playfully nip at her mouth, for more of her kisses.

They shared another kiss before she got up on her knees and crawled over top of him to get to the bedside table, where her phone was going off. She picked it up to read the message. "It's Vickie. She's texting me telling me to meet her for breakfast."

"Tell her you are too tired." Zack was behind her, pulling her hair up from her neck, exposing the nape. His lips came down onto it, and she lost her thought for a second.

"Tempting. But we both know, she'll scream her head off at me if I don't go."

"Yeah, that's true."

She turned around to face him, and the face that greeted her when she turned around, she couldn't help but tilt her face upwards to kiss him. His hands flew to her hair, grabbing the back of her neck, pulling her deeper into their kiss.

They pulled away from each other, and smiled. Both wondering what to say, if they should even say anything. They left it at casually smiling at each other, sharing glances and little touches here and there while they were getting dressed to go downstairs.

She left the room first and headed downstairs, spotted Vickie at a table and sat down. A few moments later, Vickie's on screen bf, Edge, come walking over with one of his guys, Curt Hawkins.

"Curt, have you heard anything from Zack yet this morning?" Edge asked.

Curt looked over the table at Kaly who was staring down at a waffle, trying to put on her best 'overdramatic young girl painstaking' face. "No, not yet."

Almost perfect timing, then Zack emerged from the elevator wearing shades and a hoodie over a white tank top halfway zipped up. Revealing an amazing tan, no doubt, Kaly noted. He looked for Edge and Curt and saw that they were sitting at the table with Vickie and Kaly. He took a seat across from Curt, leaving a chair vacant between him and Kaly. He reached over to grab the menu.

"Could you not reach over my waffle? Damn." Kaly's voice sounded kind of harsh. But he knew the truth. She acted like she hated him. They had to keep that going. Any change in her snarky remarks would send off red flags, and being that last night was only the first night that anything had happened, not that, but almost so close, it was scary.

"Ya know, I'm sorry about your bad morning. We should still be able to get along, even though you're clearly…uhm, suffering now from a monthly deviant."

She cut him a look and scoffed. "Morning Ryder. I'm glad you're having an amazing morning." She shot him a sweet, yet sour, smirk.

Edge looked at the two. "Kids, please. The adults have to talk." He motioned for Vickie to walk with him to another side of the café area.

Kaly noted the body language between them. Chummy lately. Perhaps she herself wasn't the only one who was mixing business with a little pleasure.

Curt looked between Zack and Kaly. "Oh, okay. I see what's going on here." He scratched his upper lip. "Nicely played"

"What are you talking about?" Zack asked.

Curt smirked. "Bro, I know. The secret is safe." He looked over at Kaly. "I've actually been waiting for this to happen between you guys."

Kaly laughed. "You're delusional, Curt."

Curt looked at them both. "The longer the two of you deny you have anything there, the longer you waste time. You two should just…admit your feelings. Admit you enjoy giving the other hell, because you're both screwed up individuals."

Kaly and Zack both look at him, then at each other. Then back at him. Kaly's eyes go back down to her plate on the table.

Zack looked at the menu, eyeing Kaly out the corner of his eyes, who was eyeing him out the corner of her eyes while she ate her fruit and waffle. They both knew there was truth to what Curt had said. Neither one of them, however, would admit this to each other. Or out loud for that matter. Sometimes, things were best left unsaid.

Kaly awoke from her dream in a haze. She hadn't thought about those days in a very long time. It seemed so far away. It was so far away. Because she knew something in her did care about him at that point in her life. That's why she ran. She had to. She knew she'd only hurt him. Or he'd hurt her. Someone would get hurt, either way. And no feelings needed to get involved.

Yeah. Leaving was the best thing for both of them. She guessed that he moved on with his life. Possibly got with some cute girl and forgot all about her. Which was exactly what he needed to do. As hard as she had tried, she hadn't forgotten him. A part of her probably never would. That was the most alive she had ever felt. Defying rules. It was almost like playing Russian Roulette. Only playing with your own heart. Knowing that you could fall..but not believing you ever would. Believing you were beyond falling. You weren't capable of falling for someone. Because that's not you. Being so centered in yourself..thinking that you couldn't fall.

Staring back at her in the mirror were her own two eyes, deep hazel, outlined in smoky eye shadow, not too heavy, but enough to make them pop. Light eyeliner, a skinny line on the eyelid, just near the lash line. There. She wore her hair in a bun right now, but when she took it down, it would be wavy. She swore by this bun for the past few weeks, loving the waves created by it in her normally straight hair. She didn't want to do straight though. She wanted waves, just not to the point where it was so much heat involved; therefore, this was perfect for her normal pickiness. Giving her makeup a once over, she was pleased now. It didn't have the appearance of being gangbanged by crayons, which pleased her very well. She hated the look of being too overdone. It bothered her to no end, which was humorous, considering she used to do bright pinks and purples.

Looking in the mirror once more, she took her hair out of the bun holder she bought online. She raked her hands through the waves, making them loose. Deciding the looked decent enough, she settled upon spraying them with hairspray. 'I can't believe I'm even here, why am I even doing this?' she thought to herself, giving her dress a once over, cringing because it was too short for her liking. She wanted to go find a pair of black leggings quickly, but, as Vickie told her earlier, "Do me this one favor, and you can have whatever you want."

Bleck. Vickie. She snarled at the thought of her god mom's voice ringing in her ear. Sometimes she really let the position she held go to her head, and Kaly knew this wouldn't be an exception.

'Oh sure, Vickie, I'll put on a fake smile and give you three hours of my life, or however long your lame ass party is going to last. I'll pretend that honey drips from your voice, and you are the sweetest person in the word. I'll help pass out hors d' oeuvres- in a cocktail dress- to all of your fancy company people. At the end of the night, though, it'll all be worth it. I'll get your beach house for my weekend of solitude, a weekend of my choosing, and not have to hear your voice.' Honestly, if Kaly thought about it enough, not having to hear Vickie's voice for two days would be music to her ears.

Given, Vickie wasn't always the worst person to be around. She had moments when she could be really easy to talk to, just not within the last two months. When her onscreen career was kerplunkering, and perhaps this shingdig would breathe some sort of life into it.

Kaly walked into the kitchen area where the party treats were. She started rearranging them on serving plates, putting the bacon-wrapped cheese squares onto their plate, sticking toothpicks into them to make it easier for them to be grabbed by party goers.

The sounds from the other room of Vickie's laughter allowed her to know that the party was about to be in full swing, and her hell was about to start. 'And 3, 2, 1…fake smiles!' she thought to herself as she made her way into the dining area where everyone was mingling.

'What am I even doing here? I may be on the roster, but they hardly even utilize me anymore, at least not on screen.' Zack could remember the last time he was on screen, and he got pushed, right out of the ring.

He could hear Vickie's obnoxious laughter coming from the house and thought immediately about turning around and hiding in a bush until she would decide it was just kids playing a prank by knocking on her door, and heading back to his car and blowing this whole lemonade stand, to head back to the hotel bar and enjoying a nice Bud Light Lime. The thought made him smile, and as tempting as it sounded, he knew he couldn't do it. He had promised his cohorts he would make an appearance. Honestly, what was the worst that could happen?

Vickie opened the door, half-smiling at Zack. "Cardona! I know I invited you, but I really didn't expect you to show up! It's good to see you though. Come on in."

Zack looked at Vickie and smiled, "Well thanks, Vickie," he said, stepping into the doorway, holding his hand up to wave at coworkers as they waved back at him. One of his guy friends, Nic Nemeth, known to fans as Dolph Ziggler, walked up to him to bump fists.

"Hey man. What's good with you?" Nic said, handing him a beer. "I don't know if she has any Bud Light Lime on hand, but she's got beer," he says, lightly chuckling.

Zack takes it into his hand after Nic offered him the beer. "This will be fine. I don't really plan on drinking that much anyway." Zack takes a swallow of his beer, and smiles. "Pretty smooth, even though it's not my Bud Light Lime."

Nic laughs, and then makes eye contact with a few of the Divas. "They look like they're having fun, huh," motioning to where some of his lady friends, were hanging out, dancing with their significant others in the middle of the big dining room area.

Zack looks up and seeing them and all of the other Divas dancing around, and nods. "Yeah, they do." He looks around the party, seeing a few others standing around, talking, or laughing. A platter walks by, being held by a guy in a white button up short sleeve shirt, accented by a black button down vest. "Whoa, do you think Vickie paid these guys enough to wear these crazy clothes?"

Nic shrugged, taking a small brownie shaped ball, dipped in white chocolate and toffee chips, and pops it into his mouth. "Oh, man. That's actually pretty good. Wonder who made those," he wondered out loud to himself. He motioned to Zack, who looked at the platter, and took one popping it in his mouth as well.

"Whoa! Those are good! Bro, did you make these?" Zack asked, looking at the man holding the platter. Given, he'd tasted some great party favors in his lifetime, but the taste combinations in his mouth at that very moment, were amazing.

"No, that hateful ass wench in the kitchen made everything. She's such a sarcastic skank," said the guy before them, causing a rumble of laughter in both Dolph and Zack. "I've never met someone so terrible in my life."

"Vickie isn't giving you a hard time, is she? We can handle that plate you have." came the reply from Zack. He knew she could be a total bitch at work, but he thought that at least she would have a little bit of kindness at home. Of course, as appearances seemed right now, it's a good thing he didn't get paid for thinking.

"No. Oh no. Are you kidding? She wouldn't fix anything; all she wanted to do was hire a caterer. No; the other one. Oh, and if you do end up running into the other one, tell her Jeremy said really nice things about her all night." Jeremy walked off, disappearing into the kitchen.

"Wow. Someone worse than Vickie? I can't imagine that," Dolph said as he clinked a beer with Zack as they laughed.

So far, the party looked like it'd been going fine, watching everything from a distance. People seemed to be marveling at the delicious foods being passed out, Kaly noted.' Hmmmph, maybe next time she'll have faith in me about making treats for her next shin-dig', she thought to herself. Looking over at the party guests, she pretty much saw everyone she'd expected to see. Vickie never gave her a precise amount of food to prep, she just said there would be a lot of people; therefore, Kaly fixed a lot of food. Walking around with a new platter of red velvet cake pops topped with hardened milk chocolate, she past a group of Divas that didn't look like they ate at all, going for the ones that looked like they did.

A caramel complexioned Layla spoke up. "Hey, what do we have here?" Her dark eyes looked over the the plate, grabbing one, biting into it. "Mmmm, wow. That's great. Who made these?"

Kaly smiled. "Guilty." She stood there for a second to see if the Diva in front of her would grab another one, and wasn't surprised when she did. This chick looked like someone she could get along with, she appreciated desserts and sweets, no matter how much work may have to go into working calories off. "You can have a third one if you want; your secret is safe with me."

Layla laughed. "The idea is really tempting. Really tempting," She motioned for some of her friends to come over, and a red headed small girl walked up. Kaly immediately fell in love with the shade of red.

Victoria smiled at the two. "What's up? Oh, what are those?" she picked one up and popped it in her mouth. "My God. My mouth is having a foodgasm. Ariane, Trinity, get your asses over here right now." Two other women ran over as Layla and Victoria handed them one a piece.

Trinity bit into hers, closing her eyes. "Oh wow. This is amazing. Ariane, we have to get Dolph and Zack over here to taste these." She motioned for the two guys to walk over, who just looked at each other and trudged over through the small crowd.

Momentarily being in her own little world as she stared at one of the other waiters standing at the kitchen door who was trying to get her attention, Kaly paid no attention to the fact that the ladies in front of her were about to empty her serving tray clean or pay attention to the two guys that they motioned over to help clean the tray. She had more of these bad boys ready to go in the kitchen; she didn't mind peddling cake pops or any type of food goodies to any of the party guests.

"What are you ladies doing over here?" Zack asked. He noticed a girl with a serving tray wearing a pretty charcoal gray cocktail dress. For the moment her head was turned, he reached over to the serving tray in her hands and picked up a cake ball, popping it in his mouth. "Oh my God! That's actually pretty good. How do you make these?"

The question called Kaly back to her company from her own mind. 'Aw, I'm such a terrible host. I hope they don't think I was rude for that.' She looked up to the direction the question came from, and made eye contact with the man in front of her, and froze. Honestly, she believed they both did. For that second it was like they were lost in a moment.

Zack swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling like he needed fresh air immediately. "Uh, Kaly. H-How've you been?" Shit. He wasn't supposed to do that. He was very sure that the company around him in the small circle picked up on something, as the eye darting between the two of them began. "It's been a long time since I saw you." Her hair was longer, darker than he remembered. She still had those eyes that held him in that moment years before. If he stayed here long enough, he was sure they'd get lost in that moment again, and neither one of them could afford that a second time around.

'Kaly. Talk. Cough. Do something,' she thought to herself. She could feel herself getting flushed. Talk about a blast from the past. Zack had changed, and honestly, if she admitted it to herself, looked damn good standing in front of her. "Cardona. Wow, look at you. You look nice." She thought to herself, 'Nice, that's the best you can come up with? And Cardona? What the hell are you thinking right now? That's going to give something away more than anything!'

Zack was taken back a bit. Suddenly it was years ago. The first time they jokingly referred to each other on a last name basis, the first time she actually hung out with him and his partner in crime Brian Meyers all afternoon (granted, not by her choice at first) but that was only short-lived that time between the three had to be forced. Pretty soon she came around them enough to just annoy Vickie when she would come around. Possibly, why Vickie never really seemed to want to have her around work like she did at the beginning of the whole kayfabe.

There they were. Looking into each other's eyes, and it was like they both knew that the other was thinking about the old times, and both had to look away, Kaly pushing hair behind her ear nervously.

"Excuse me!" came a shrill voice from the middle of the room. Vickie was clinking on her glass and demanding attention on her. "I would just like to thank everyone for coming out to my party tonight, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves the rest of the night. "

She seemed like she would drone on for hours, but surprisingly she didn't. She happened to make her speech shorter than her speeches when she was GM, Zack thought. He looked around the small circle to make a joke about it, and stopped. Damn. Funny that even though time had passed between them, she was still good at disappearing when she didn't want to talk about something. He mumbled under his breath, but when Dolph went to ask him what he'd said he brushed it off as nothing.

Kaly was sorry that she'd walked away again. Honestly she was. She couldn't help it though. He looked like he was uncomfortable by her presence, she justified to herself. She took Vickie's speech as the distraction that she needed to be able to walk away. Moments later after her Houdini, she found herself in the kitchen drinking, or nursing, the champagne glasses she'd grabbed before they made their way out the kitchen door.

Jeremy walked in, noticed her and moused his way over there. "You don't look like you're in the best of moods, little girl. You need me to cheer you up?"

Kaly blew her breath. "No, I actually need you to fuck off," she said, never taking her eyes off of her shoes.

Jeremy huffed. "Well then. I saw a very cute guy in here, earlier. I think he may be your type. I would be nice enough to go out there and introduce you to him if you wanted."

Kaly thought about it, then said, "What the hell, it'll get my mind off of the nightmare blast from the past I ran into earlier. Let's have a peek-see." She walked haphazardly to where he was standing gleefully. "Alright which one is he?"

Jeremy opened the kitchen door and peeked out, scanned the crowd and caught a glimpse of the person he picked out earlier. "There he is."

Kaly walked over to the door and peered out. "Where? I don't see this person you speak so fondly of."

Jeremy motioned in a direction, and Kaly froze and turned around, letting the door slam when she turned around and pushed Jeremy backwards, catching him off guard. "No, no, no. That won't be necessary."

Jeremy looked at her puzzled as she made her way over to the champagne glasses and took a big gulp of it, then grimacing from the aftertaste. "Okay, he may not be the Batman type, but he looks like he'd be your kind-"

"NO," she exclaimed, causing a tap on the door a few minutes later.

"Is everything okay in there," Vickie peeked her head in the kitchen and spotted Kaly and Jeremy in the kitchen and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the fact that Kaly's eyes met hers with a glare. She motioned for Jeremy to go out of the kitchen long enough for her and Kaly to talk. Jeremy left out the kitchen as Vickie was walking in.

"You didn't tell me he was coming," Kaly noted blankly.

Vickie looked at her for a second, puzzled, then she walked over to Kaly. "Well we do work at the same place, why wouldn't you think he'd show up?"

"For one, you hardly ever had anything to do with him before, and I thought you were more of a Heel, or those people you represent." Kaly said, almost spitting the words out like they were poison in her own mouth.

Vickie gave her a stunned look. "I didn't know it would bother you. In all honesty, I didn't think he'd show up. I thought he was just a play thing for you to get on my bad side. I didn't know it was ever really a concrete thing between you two."

"It wasn't. It was never concrete." Kaly paused, reeling in the truth of her words. In all honesty, it never was concrete. It was fun. She cared about him; yes. Sometimes you just have to let things go to get what you need. And that's exactly what she did. She needed to leave. Leaving was the only answer at the time. Even if neither of them understood the question..if there even was a question asked at that time in their seperate lives.


	2. Chapter 2

Damn her. Damn her for walking in now. Zack rolled over, looked at his phone to check the first text of the morning, surprised that she even was on his mind this morning. Why would she be? She made her decision. She made that clear the last time they had seen each other. Last night was no different. Walking away clearly made that evident. So did making herself as scarce as one could possibly be after they have ran into an ex.

Ex. Well, he wouldn't really call them exes. He honestly never knew what they were, because technically speaking, they were never really anything. If he was honest with himself. Perfectly honest. She came to him when she wanted to. Mostly when she was frustrated from being Vickie's personal assistant, verbal punching bag, what have you. All she did was look at him coyly, sweet and innocent, that first time. Only to find him an hour later; after Vickie had screamed at her for something she did wrong; and catch them both by surprise when she pulled him into a corner and kissed him. He was caught off guard, very much. But at the same time...

His thought process ran off wandering and he chuckled. Remembering that a few of the Divas rounded the corner and caught them kissing and they both just stood there, not really understanding the moment between them. Or did they? They both just exchanged a glance and walked off in different directions as though nothing had happened, but exchanging glances all afternoon. He remembered the tension of that week all too well.

He remembered the mess he walked into that Friday night. He had walked into the bar to unwind with a beer, then go back upstairs and catch some sleep. She sat at the bar, 6 shot glasses. He sat down, had a beer, and they talked for a little while. He finally convinced her to leave with him, but not like that. He asked her to let him take her to her room, no motives. Just so she would be out of the way of any seedy men that tend to hang out at hotel bars.

While in his thoughts, he found his way to the bathroom, getting things ready to take his shower before he left for the next town. He turned on his water, and stepped into the warm escape from his mind that was running rampant with memories, good and bad. Good; because they were just so unexpected. Bad; because sometimes that girl was just too reckless, and she knew it. And those type of people, are the most dangerous-the ones that are aware of their reckless behavior, but don't really care.

"So you'll still be able to keep to our agreement?" Vickie opened the bedroom door and asked, being drowned out by the sound of the blow dryer. She stood there and waited until Kaly was finished.

Kaly noticed her standing there, but didn't really bother to turn it off while she was talking. But she knew she wouldn't leave until she said her piece. "Say what?"

"Our agreement. Seeing Zack last night didn't change anything, did it?" Vickie hoped it hadn't. She'd be able to have the things that needed to be done finished in half the time by having Kaly as a gopher.

"Nope. I can do it." Kaly smiled. Why she was agreeing to this, she had no idea. Maybe she was a glutton for punishment. Maybe it was the fact that she could possibly hang out with some really cool people backstage. Remembering how awesome it was back then. She racked up on some pretty amazing tips for make-up and hair. Maybe she could learn some new stuff.

Vickie smiled. "That's good to hear. Trust me, you won't regret coming on the road. I promise."

Kaly knew that, in a way, Vickie was right. There were a few decent people who Vickie had over from time to time when they had their calls to check in and see how things were going. Well, mostly when Vickie was checking in to see how "recovery" was going. Vickie seemed to be in a better place, somewhat. Better than what she was back then, at least. When she purposely made Kaly's life hell on purpose.

Kaly hated the way recovery sounded. Just the word itself gave off the vibe of being an addict. Who the hell knows? Maybe, in some people's eyes, Kaly was an addict-just not in a usual way. She thought about the last two years and laughed. What was usual about any of it? Calling Vickie and her daughters to wire money for a bus fare back home. Because whatever town she was in at the time, sounded like a promising idea at the time. That is, until she found herself hitchhiking on that old lonely highway. The same one a state trooper was traveling, decided she was up to no good, and brought her in.

"You know, everything will work out. The way things are supposed to." Vickie's voice brought Kaly back to reality as she was packing a bag for at least 2 weeks worth of clothes. She'd probably have to do some sort of shopping. Not pricey boutiques. More than likely either a good thrift shop, or a TJ Maxx. Nothing too name brand. She wouldn't have it. Not that all name brand was awful. It was just that she couldn't see spending more than 20 dollars for a shirt.

Kaly nodded her head. "Yeah it will." She smiled as she walked out of the room, into her small bathroom to collect her makeup bag and her curling wand, along with a flat iron. "You're absolutely right. And this time, no purpose shenanigans to tick you off. If anything happens to fall in my lap-not literally, dear God-I will think long and hard before getting into something that is sure to cause a backslide."

Vickie put her hand on Kaly's. "You listen-I'm giving you a warning. Things are different now. They have a bigger "no fraternizing" policy in the company now. There's always a chance that spending time with someone will cause some feelings, so just be careful, whoever they put you with, being a "manager". It's nothing to mess around with. The board really frowns upon these type of things. Just be careful. You will be penalized."

"I plan on doing nothing that would get either of our asses in trouble." Kaly smiled deviously and giggled.

Vickie looked at her and shook her head. "Thanks." She headed down the hallway out of the bedroom, heading to her own so she can pack her bags. Kaly thought about her promise to her. She really did promise that. She didn't ever plan on any of those things to happen, back then. They just did. Kaly sighed. She had to do better this time, for her sake, and those all that invested in her recovery, including Vickie.

Zack walked into the arena, debating on whether or not to head to the cafeteria, or to head to the locker room, and warm up. He put his iPod on shuffle and put his ear buds in his ears. He opened the door to the locker room, walked to a shelf and put his bags down there. He saw Cena, and they nodded at each other. Cena walked over and hit him on the shoulder.

"I don't understand why they aren't using you man. You are better than they give you credit for, man." He said to Zack. He just looked at him and shook his head.

Zack shrugged. "Well maybe they will soon. Maybe I'll get the push I deserve again. And hopefully this time, it won't be off of the stage."

Cena laughed.

Nicole Garcia-Colace, Cena's girlfriend walked in and walked up to their side, and Zack noticed her walk up and excused himself to walk out of the locker room.

Smack! Again, not looking where you are going gets you nowhere.

"Sorry!" Kaly apologized for the quick collision of bodies that met in the hallway, looking up and seeing those familiar sharp green eyes. Randy. She remembered him hanging around some with Adam when Vickie was dating Adam. Or were they ever really technically dating? Whatevs. She apologized and walked away. The less she said to anyone, the better. She was only there to be a valet. That's what Vickie told her. Valet to who, she didn't know yet. But the next superstar who asked for a valet, she was going to be the "It" girl to them. Or the not so it girl.

Randy gave her a once over, smirked and dismissed the bump. "Its okay, just don't let it happen again. People talk."

Kaly gave him a look and then looked around. Besides techies, they were the only ones in the hall way at the moment. "Yeah, okay." She said painstakingly. As she walked away, she prayed no one saw through her, down to her soul. Her biggest fear is that people eye her, and hear her every thought." Like her favorite song said, it's the closest thing, to assault when all eyes are on you. She took a deep breath and rounded the corner and saw a few of the girls walking past her to get to the Diva's locker room, a few of them nodding in her direction. She made her way down the hallway, and knocked onto the door that read "Stephanie Levesque"

"Just a minute." She heard two voices from behind the door and waited until the door swung open. It was Fandango. He eyed her and raised an eyebrow. She quickly looked away. She hated that look. It made her feel so problematic. She smiled coyly and gave a sweet "hi". He looked over at Stephanie and then back at her.

Stephanie just looked back at him. "Give it time. We'll figure something out." After he was out of sight, she asked Kaly to close the door behind her.

"Okay, I understand the last time you were here, you caused some trouble." Stephanie questioned.

"Well, that's debateable." Kaly answered.

"Oh that wasn't a question." Stephanie replied.

"Guilty."

"If you get this position, you can't mess this up for yourself. I expect you to show a decency about yourself this time. You are actually working for the company now. You aren't just on the road to be along for the ride."

"Wow. She said it was valet. I wasn't under the impression that it would be all that serious."

"For now. I think you have a potential though. One that the older Divas had. Like me, back in my day."

Kaly looked her over. "For real?"

Stephanie nodded.

Zack was waiting outside of office. He had been summoned, for what he wasn't aware. Ten minutes later, the door swung open, and there she stood. Beside Stephanie, it was her. Kryptonite. Poison. Arsenic.

Their eyes met. Gazes were held for a minute too long, and then Stephanie's voice broke in. "I'm aware the two of you are familiar with each other. That's why, right now, the two of you are in close vicinities."

Kaly and Zack both looked at Stephanie.

"Zack has asked for a valet. So have a few of the other guys. I'm just wondering who to put you with, since the two of you tend to be fond of each other." Her voice seemed to drag on for the next two minutes.

Zack looked at Kaly, whose eyes were watching Stephanie. Not really trying to make eye contact with him. He wondered what exactly was going on in her head.

"Stephanie, there's nothing to worry about this time around. We're both older and smarter than we were back then, and we wouldn't jeopardize anything by making a decision that would compromise anything. We know we stand more to lose this time around, with the policy and all."

The rest of the conversation was a blur. Kaly walked out after the conversation was over and walked to the cafeteria. She had to down something, so she grabbed an apple.

"Are you okay with this? Being in close distance of me, and all," Zack's voice came from behind her and startled her. He was in his ring gear. He had had a house match earlier before being summoned to the office.

"Yeah. I'll be good." She wiped off her fruit and took a bite

Zack nodded. "Good."

They both tried walking away, only for them to end up walking in the same direction, meeting each other's glances, and politely smile at the other before she tilted her head in the left direction.

He took note and headed in the other direction, although his feet seemed to get a mind of their own at the last minute and as she was walking by, he took a step and her leg brushed his.

Kaly wondered if that was intentional for a second, looking up to meet his eyes. His eyes held a slight smirk. And it let her know that while no, it wasn't intentional, he didn't regret taking the wrong step again.

Zack stood there for a second after she walked off, after a few failed attempts and their continuous bumping into each other for the last thirty seconds. He watched as she walked over to a corner, picked a seat away from people, and put on her jumbo headphones.

He grabbed a plate of catering food, and decided to join her, out of curiosity. "What are you listening to?"

Kaly saw his lips moving, and picked one of the phones off from her ear. "What?"

"I was asking what you were listening to."

"Oh. The Civil Wars." She didn't even have to look at the screen, she knew this song by heart.

"Ah. Are they good?"

"Very likeable."

"Who else do you listen to?" Maybe he could create a small dialogue, and at the same time, catch on to some new music. He remembered she did seem to have a pretty good taste in music when they hung out years ago.

Kaly looked at him from her side of the table. "Ahh, well. The Paper Kites have a few good ones, easy favorites. Bon Iver has a beautiful song, but as covers would have it, two other good ones have done one of his songs, and now I don't know which one I prefer, being as they all tend to be really good."

"Ah. Maybe it's not the singers, maybe it's the song itself."

"Good point. Skinny Love is a good one."

"Skinny Love? I," Zack laughed, "actually have that on my iPod. Ed Sheeran. I'm guessing that's a cover."

"Yeah." Kaly smiled. "Which is one of my favorite covers of it. But," she continued, "you should definitely listen to Birdy's cover as well. Her voice is something of amazement."

They sat there for a little while longer, talking about music. Giving suggestions of artists and songs. And tv shows also, that both would probably be checking out, separately more than likely, during their down time.

It was crazy that they were both sitting here and having a conversation like this, as if they didn't have a past like they did. For a moment then, Kaly had almost forgot that they had, until she thought that the conversation context was as crazing as it was. Then she remembered, and couldn't help smirking.

"What?" Zack asked.

"Nothing. It's just funny that you're actually going to check out folkster bands is all. First up music, next thing, I just might be able to warp your brain into converting to the Android side of the smartphone world."

Zack laughed. "No. iPhones are more my thing."

Kaly laughed. They both just sat there looking at each other for a few seconds, then looked down at the floor. They looked back at each other and smiled at each other's behavior, thinking it was humorous now.

"So, how do you think this is going to work out?" Kaly asked.

"What do you mean?" Zack just looked at her.

"Like, who's valet do you think she'll make me."

"I have no idea."

"I saw Fandango walking out of the office tonight."

Zack laughed. "Yeah, he's been wanting a valet since him and Rosa didn't work out, and she ended up with Adam Rose."

"Anyone besides him. I will be fine."

Zack laughed. "He's matured since having his 'little dancing girls'."

She thought of telling him how he'd looked at her earlier tonight, then thought better of it. She remembered that, before they were anything romantically, he and Brian had looked after her like a younger sibling. So over anything, he probably wouldn't like the idea of Fandango looking at Kaly like she was some sort of sexual eye candy.

"Yeah, I see a lot of us have. Just not the 'dancing girls'" Kaly said, smiling. "You've really done good for yourself. You're not how you used to be, you're working by yourself out there now, and even if they don't use you that much, I think you're capable of showing them exactly what you're able to do out there."

Wait, a compliment, Zack thought. Is she for real? The old Kaly never complimented anyone. Ever. He looked at her.

"What?"

"Yeah, I believe we have matured a lot over time. Like you."

Kaly laughed. "Oh, I see you have jokes."

"What?!"

"Clearly you don't mean that. You're only saying it, because I said something nice to you, and you think you have to repay me back with something nice. Well you don't, so you can stop-"

"Hey, hey, whoa. No. I really did mean it. It wasn't like you to give me a compliment. Well actually, not just me, but anyone. You always used to walk around here calling people "little twerps" or other hateful names." Zack looked at her. This was not a side he was used to either. Defensive. Did she feel like she had to be defensive around him? She shouldn't. No matter how bad things were when they stopped talking. He never had any kind of idea to get "even" or any other nonsense most people do when they have the chance.

"Right." Kaly rolled her eyes, realizing she had just made herself look like an ass. "Look, I'm sorry for that blow up." She scrunched her face up, out of awkwardness. "Really I am. I'm such a jerk."

Zack laughed. "No, I wouldn't say you were a jerk. You just had a jerky moment. But that doesn't make you a jerk."

Kaly laughed. "Thanks. I needed that."

They looked around them and saw that besides a few of the new faces that hadn't been there when they first walked in, they were the only ones in there now. The ones that had been in there when they walked in weren't there now. Layla was standing by the fruit table debating on a snack. Kofi was looking at his phone. The Bella Twins were sitting at a table looking through their phones and showing each other pictures. Cena walked in and walked over to them, kissing his girlfriend on the cheek before sitting down and taking off his hat.

Kaly looked at her watch. It was almost 11. Almost time to leave the stadium. She looked at Zack and said, "Well, it was good to catch up. I have to go and find Vickie and let her know I'm thinking about cutting out of here early going to the hotel. If I don't get out of these clothes, I'm going to freak. I'm not a business suit type. I need jeans, and fast."

Zack nodded. "Yeah, I have to go and pack my bag and head out to my room myself. Head to the gym and all."

They both nodded and she walked out of the dining area.

"Zack. You do know who that is?" Cena called over to him before he walked out.

"Yeah." Zack answered.

John looked at Zack, and smiled. Zack knew. That smile meant he knew. But he also knew that at this time, the twins weren't in the company when he and Kaly were involved. And John wasn't about to air anyone's laundry, and Zack respected and appreciated him for that. They would have that "friendly chat" when the time was right, but John wasn't going to bring that up around the twins, or Layla. If they didn't remember that scandal themselves, then he wasn't about to bring it up and ruin a reputation that hadn't even started yet.

Zack shot him a look to thank him and shouted over his shoulder, "Catch you later bro!"

"Hey, do you mind if I cut out of here early. I'm so ready to get out of this outfit."

Vickie was talking to a techie. She looked at them and then back at Kaly. "Actually I was coming to look for you. Stephanie told me your meeting went pretty good. And you're witty. And quick. She liked that."

"Steph is cool. Very likeable."

Vickie looked at Marcus, the techie, who smiled and nodded, smiled at Kaly and walked off.

"You didn't have to end your conversation on account of me."

"I was just waiting for you so we could leave together. If you don't have other engagements." Vickie laughed.

"Ha. No I don't have any plans. Just to get out of these clothes is all. I need comfort. Jeans or pajamas."

"No hotel bar?" said Vickie.

Kaly laughed. "Alcohol is the furthest thing from my mind right now."

They walked out of the building together, Kaly driving them both back. Vickie had caught a ride earlier to the stadium with someone else. So she was riding back to the hotel with her. Which Kaly didn't mind, as long as Vickie didn't mind her playlist. The ride back to the hotel was full of thoughts of how much she had changed, and how much he had changed. She was sure that this time around, nothing would happen. Just two adults enjoying each other's company, and give each other feedback when needed. Quite possibly the beginning of a good friendship.


	3. Chapter 3

Weeks ago, had you told Zack he would be hanging out with Kaly, he would've laughed in your face, and asked you where you could find her, because he hadn't seen her in years. But now, it wasn't that far of a stretch. He actually looked forward to running into her at work. She had been used a few times for Fandango's valet...but they had decided his dancing gimmick didn't meet her lack of equilibrium; her dancing his style was like a new born fawn walking. Zack himself wasn't really being used all that much himself. So when it came to having down time backstage, they both had available time frames. Which they in turn were filling up with music suggestions for the other, and actually talked about books. Not that he didn't read; it had just been a while. A few that she had suggested, he hadn't been able to put down.

It had been a total of 9 weeks since they had walked back into each other's lives, and they figured it was safe to exchange numbers for text messaging purposes. She had warned him though, that she didn't sleep a lot at night, so if she got bored and wasn't tweeting on her personal account, she more than likely would text him until he fell asleep on her. Being the good guy he was, he really had tried not to fall asleep on her. But the few times he had, she gave him a little bit of crap for it the next day after he'd texted her, but the crapping around didn't last long. It was all in good fun.

Zack got out of the shower and dried off. He put on his boxers and walked out of the bathroom, where he'd placed his other clothes on the edge of the bed. A short sleeved t-shirt and blue jeans, along with some tennis shoes. It works, he thought, as he looked in the mirror across the room from him. He grabbed his bags and went to open the door, to be really startled by just exactly who was standing outside his doorway.

Dolph.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"So you and the new girl have been hanging out alot lately."

Zack ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, Kaly's pretty cool."

Dolph chuckled. "Yeah, she's cool. She's also very easy on the eyes. I knew I had seen her before. Then I did the math...dude. I can't believe I didn't catch that when it was going on."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Dolph laughed again. "Zack..you and Curt were with Adam. Adam was dating Vickie..and Kaly is Vickie's god child. She didn't hang around backstage that long, but when she did, she was around you and Hawkins alot, if memory serves me correctly."

Zack could feel his insides about to explode. Dolph was close to the truth, and Dolph had become one of his best pals lately, and not telling him about his past with Kaly probably wasn't considered very "bro-like".

Dolph studied Zack's face. "So it happened?"

Zack shuffled his feet. "Yeah it happened. But the past is in the past, and we're both matured from those days, and it'd probably be best that we keep it quie-"

Dolph cut him off. "Look man. I'm not going to say anything. But," he continued, "if you're interested in getting cozied in again..I can possibly make it so that Vickie isn't around...or keep her some how occupied. She likes younger guys..and there are some around here younger than me."

Zack looked at Dolph. He could possibly be onto something here. Then again, for that to actually work, Kaly would have to be interested again. He sighed.

Dolph noticed the heaviness in Zack's sigh. "Look, we don't know that it will work. But we don't know that it won't."

Zack looked at the ground. "Yeah, you got a point. It's just that...a lot of things were left unsaid, and I'm not exactly sure she's willing to visit the past."

Dolph put his hand on Zack's shoulder. "If she meant that much to you back then...it's worth a shot."

Traffic was backed up. Vickie had caught a ride with someone else, she had to go in early. Kaly had ran into Emma in the hallway, and asked her if she wanted to ride with her. Emma was very likeable, bubbly, and didn't make her want to pull her hair out. And she loved having fun. So for Kaly, this was a win/win.

They were stuck in traffic, listening to a mixed cd, because Kaly still liked mixed cds. She wouldn't convert completely to mp3 players. She and Emma were dancing in the front seat. She was sure that other passengers in surrounding cars were wondering if they were having problems getting body parts to function, but Emma didn't look like she cared, and she knew she didn't.

"Hey, you're phone is going off." Emma pointed down.

Kaly looked at it and saw it was a text. Traffic was still backed up and it didn't seem to be changing anytime soon, but she knew the minute she picked it up, the light would change, and horns all around her would honk, and she would yell out the window. Obscenities. Harsh ones. Ones she wasn't really sure Emma was ready to hear. They had 10 minutes until they would reach their destination, so she could wait.

As soon as she could, she took off. The two women were singing along to some old Katy Perry when they pulled into the parking lot behind the building. John and Nicole were getting there at the same time. They got out of the car and waved at them, and they waved back from their black SUV. That was a big automobile. The four started talking and then Emma started in on her bubbliness, which got John and Nikki talking some as well. Kaly remembered a few moments later that her phone had went off in the car. She dug in her pocket and saw the text. She checked it seeing it was from Zack. One line: Can we talk?

Talk. About what exactly, she wondered. She didn't want to just walk away from present company, that'd be so rude. But if she waited for him to get there and people saw them talking and heading into the stadium together, there would be talk. And talk would get to more talk. Which would eventually get to Vickie. And Stephanie.

She messaged him back: Where at?

John and Nikki were talking about the latest trip they took on John's plane, and Emma was listening, attentively. Kaly stuffed her phone in her pocket, and Nikki just looked at her.

"That doesn't look like a happy face. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?"

"You're wrinkling your eyebrows, which is something you don't normally do. Unless you're thinking real hard."

Moment when she wished Nikki wouldn't be so damn alert count 45. "It's nothing," she said, laughing it off.

"Mhmmm" Nikki looked at John, who shrugged.

"What is that?" Kaly asked.

John cleared his throat. "Well, maybe it's Vickie. Been giving you a hard time lately?"

"Uh, no more than normal." She laughed.

They were laughing when Zack pulled up to the back in his rental car, riding with one of the rookies he'd took under his wing. Teaching him things he had learned. Kaly noticed them getting out of the car, and thought that Zack was really nice for taking his time with this kid.

Zack noticed her looking at him, and gave her a slight smirk. Andy, the rookie, walked off into the building as Zack made his way over to John, Nikki, Emma, and Kaly.

"What's good with you, man?" John asked. He noticed the exchanged glances from Kaly and Zack when Zack walked up, and he was actually hoping he wasn't the only one. Lately, these two kids had been hanging out, and he could see that Zack was starting to get a vibe about him. A good one. Mostly after he'd been around Kaly. He didn't know what Kaly was thinking, or if she was thinking anything at all, but he saw the far off look Zack would get from time to time. The very same far off look he would get from the beginning of his and Nikki's relationship. Zack was a good guy; he deserved a good girl. She acted like a good girl, but there are some things he saw out of Zack when she left. She hurt him, bad. It took him a while to talk to any other girls after she left, and his friend Curt was the only one who was able to dig him out of that hole.

"Not a whole lot, how's it going John?" Zack answered.

"Good man. Good. Trying to keep a certain lady in order." he looked at Nikki and smirked, who twirled her head and just gave him a loving smile, then shook her head.

"Oh please. We know the truth to that statement, I keep you in order. If I didn't, you'd be in some sort of trouble or prank." She looked lovingly at him as he smiled at her, bringing out his dimples.

Kaly noticed the two of them. She liked how they were around each other. It was adorable. She wanted that. That attainable, adoring love. The kind that seemed so far away from her, no matter how hard she tried. She was honestly starting to believe it wasn't in the cards for her to find an honest to goodness relationship that lasted for years.

Then their eyes met. They glanced at each other at the same time, and their eyes met. Fuck. Really? Did you have to look at him right when he was looking at you? Kaly asked herself.

Zack cleared his throat. He didn't expect her to look at him, and when he caught her eyes when their glances met, he couldn't help but smile on the inside.

He started to walk towards the stadium, and Kaly would have waited for him to be inside before she started to move towards the back entrance, but John suggested that they all head inside and make the night entertaining. So they all started towards the building together. And Kaly thought about this being a moment when she really really appreciated John's way of thinking. There were alot of them, since she and Nikki had started talking some backstage. Not much. But Nikki definitely had a bad rep that didn't fit the girl that stood in front of her.

She and Emma walked behind John and Nikki. As soon as she got in the door, she saw Zack talking to someone in the hallway, then she noticed it was Stephanie. Stephanie had her head turned away from her, and then Zack motioned his head in the opposite direction, causing Stephanie to turn around and spot Kaly.

"There you are," she said, walking up to her. "I have to talk to you about work. We may have a position for you now."

Kaly just looked at her. She honestly felt like she couldn't breathe. She felt like she could only nod.

"Wow." She laughed nervously, and glanced down at the floor.

"Its between two superstars, so I need to know how exactly to do this."

"Okay," Kaly nodded.

Stephanie looked at Zack, then looked at Kaly.

"It's between this guy, and Dolph Ziggler."

Kaly just stopped. Oh wow."

Stephanie nodded. "I'll try you out with each of them to see which one you'll get along better with."

Kaly nodded, understandingly. "Yeah, of course."

Stephanie gave them both a look and smiled as she walked away, only to turn back around and say, "Your first one will be tonight. You and Zack will be going out there together. I will be watching." She turned on her heel and walked off.

Kaly looked at Zack, who looked blankly at her.

"So you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I did. But being as we have been talked to by Stephanie, that mostly..touched base..with the subject at hand."

"Oh. Okay."

Zack started to walk away, then turned around. "Question, though. How would you feel, you know? Working close to me? Or working close to Dolph? Which one do you think you'd like better?"

Kaly looked at him, puzzled. "Honestly, I'd like working with you more; I know you better. I mean, I could work with Dolph, if Stephanie decides that that is best."

Zack scratched his head. "There's something you should know about Dolph. He figured it out."

Kaly just looked at him blankly. "Where is he? Do I need to threaten him or something for him to keep his mouth shut?" She started off in a direction to go confront Dolph.

Zack pulled her arm, which caught her off guard. She looked at him puzzled.

"He's not going to say anything. He's already promised he would stay quiet."

"Hmmmm. Wow."

Zack nodded. "Yeah."

"So are you ready to go out there and show them your Zack Ryderness?"

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Zack Ryder-ness?!"

"You know, it's you, with -ness at the end? Oh, don't tell me you haven't seen You, Me, & Dupree?"

"I have, I just never pegged you as someone to take advice from an Owen Wilson movie."

"Then, my friend, you have a lot to learn. Cause some of those movies can be quite inspirational sometimes."

"Inspiring? Hmmm."

"Yeah." They looked at each other and laughed.

Zack looked at her, and said, "Alright, let's get you over to Sandra. I'm sure they'll have something we can use. Even if you wore jeans and a t-shirt, you'd look fine."

Kaly just looked at him. "Thanks." She didn't know whether to blush, or to take that as a 'yeah it'll do' moment, so she just accepted it, and left it with that.


	4. Chapter 4

"Wow! Talk about an adrenaline rush!" Kaly exclaimed when she got backstage down the hallway with Zack. It was her first night going out to the ring with him, and she had so much excitement pulsing through her veins from the crowd.

"That crowd is on fire tonight!" Zack replied. He walked behind her, making sure she watched where she was going, and to make sure she wouldn't trip over anything.

"That was so amazing! I've never seen a crowd that big, I don't believe!" Kaly exclaimed, her bright hazel eyes met Zacks for a moment, and then for a minute, they smiled at each other, both breathing in the excitement of the air.

Zack felt something-he didn't know exactly what the feeling was-but it was one of nostalgia. One of those moments, where as quickly as you lost your thoughts, they were pulled straight back to you in a haze, and the insides of your stomach get warm and fuzzy, yet feel as they are going to fall out of you at the same time.

He didn't know how to feel, that he did feel these; and he knew he owed this feeling to the girl in front of him, Kaly. As her glance met his again, he wondered if she was feeling the same amount of excitement that he was feeling; the same feelings that they both used to feel, when the moments surrounding them were right there at the tips of their fingers, and all they had to do was reach out and grab them.

She grinned at him, and it was there. It was that grin, the one where she sighed in the middle of the grin, and he knew.

As quickly as he reached over to her, she was reaching out to him and pulled his face into hers, and it was as if nothing had ever changed from that time, years ago.

She knew, without a doubt, that if anyone could see them in the hallway right now, this would be horrible. Without a doubt, this was the one thing that pulsed through every nerve of her brain. However, this thought was quickly overthrowned by the level of natural serotonin and all of the other chemicals your brain sets off during moments of euphoric nostalgia.

They both pulled away from each other at the same time, eyes meeting.

"We probably shouldn't-" Kaly said.

"You're right. We probably shouldn't." Zack replied back.

Kaly nodded. "Well, I'm going to go to the dressing room, and change out of this." she laughed, motioning down to her threads that they found for her last minute debut. If she was to continue as being Zack's valet, even considering what had just happened, she'd have to get something different than what she was wearing right now.

Zack chuckled. "It looks good on you."

Kaly looked up into his face, his eyes gleaming towards her, and for a minute, she wanted to lose herself in that moment again. Knowing that she couldn't though, she thanked him and gave him a sheepish grin, walking down the hall.

He watched her walk away, disappearing into the locker room to the right, and he took two steps backwards and turned around. He almost ran right into Nikki Bella.

"Did I walk up on something? I see the new girl walk away and then you act like you have lost your train of thought. Don't fall already. It's much too soon for feelings to be caught."

He knew she meant well. And her saying 'much too soon' meant that she must not have known about the past they shared, the one that almost everyone else couldn't seem to let go of.

"Nikki, I..." he shook his head. "It's a long story. But, thanks for the concern. Good luck out there, not that you'll need it."

Nikki looked at him. "Ehhh...thank you?"

Nikki watched as he walked away down the hall to the men's dressing room.

"He's being weirder than normal."

John's big muscular arms came around her and he caught her cheek with a kiss and she smiled.

"Where did you come from?"

"Oh nowhere. I just saw you talking to the kid. Being as he has a valet tonight..and with it being someone he's been looking at, the way he's been looking at her.." his voice trailed. "Maybe I should talk to him."

Nikki looked at him, questioningly.

"I'll explain it all in the car later tonight. Right now, the only thing you should worry about is your match. Which of course you have nothing to worry about because you're going to do great."

She smiled and gave him her "I Love You" smile as she walked away to take her spot behind the curtain before her music hit.

John watched her walk away. Then his mind went to Zack. He loved what he had with Nikki. He wanted that for the young man. He wanted to believe, like Zack did, that Kaly was possibly that one. The past, however, spoke otherwise. He shook it off. People change. He had changed.

He walked down the hall. He had someone he needed to talk to.


	5. Chapter 5

Kaly was walking out of the dressing room, and ran smack into a hard muscular man. She almost knocked the wind out of herself. She had to focus on who was standing in front of her. John.

"Oh John. Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"Oh. That'd explain why you smacked right into me."

Kaly laughed. "What's been going on with you?"

"Oh nothing much. Listen, I have to talk to you about something, and I don't want to seem like I'm meddling, or anything. I just think you should know something."

Kaly stood up straighter. Whatever this was sounded serious. "Sure, what's up?"

"Its Ryder. Look..I don't know exactly what you're thinking. What's going on in your head?"

Kaly just looked at him. "John, what are you talking about?"

John sighed. He removed his hat, and thought hard about this. Maybe this wasn't the right way to tell her. He was sure if he told her exactly what happened when she left that the thought of Zack in the state he was in would hurt her because she was the cause. Yes, she had the right to know. But dropping it out of the sky like he was about to seemed harsh.

"We have to talk about you and Zack.." He swallowed as he looked up from the ground.

"What exactly do we have to talk about? I'm just his valet."

"I know. About..I know. Not alot of people do. But I do..and I just don't want to see him the way he was after you left."

Kaly stared at him. She glanced at the ground. "What do you know?"

John looked at her. He didn't want to say, "you guys hooked up a few times", cause he didn't want her to feel cheap or dirty.

"Things headed in a direction, for a while, with no one picking up on it. But when it was uncovered by Adam..you bolted."

Kaly looked down at her shoes. She didn't know why the words made her feel, say, dirt cheap. They did, and she felt the ice rise inside of her heart.

"I know what I did, John, okay? I'm not proud of it. It was wrong; I get that." Kaly sighed.

"Well, I'm just saying, I'm not sure you know exactly what happened after you left. Without saying a word." John's eyes just stared at her.

Kaly felt like she was about to hurl. She could tell that John was about to lay down some truth that she wasn't sure that she was ready to hear.

"I don't know exactly where you guys were, what you guys were to each other, but it did something to him when you just walked away without saying anything. Even if you didn't say anything to anyone else, like Vickie, you could have at least said something to him." John's bright eyes felt as if they were staring holes into her soul. If this was the type of karmatic poetic justice she was being delivered by God, just out of John's mouth, she was more than sure she deserved it all.

Kaly looked down at her shoes. She looked back at John. "Do I even want to know how bad it was?"

John looked at her for a minute. Even though she was looking at him, it was a distance in her eyes; sort of like her trail of thought was on Zack's emotions when she left. Her eyes had a glossy look, as if her tear ducts would explode.

"Honestly, I'm not sure you do. But I will say that, it wasn't pretty. Curt was the only person who could reach him. He was hurting. Whether he'll actually admit it to you or not, he was in a bad place." John uncrossed his arms and scratched his nose with his thumb.

Kaly wanted to find Zack right then. She wanted to scream at him for being so nice to her when she didn't deserve him being nice to her at all, if all that John was saying was true.

Then again, if what John was saying was true, he did not need her yelling at him and tearing into him. It was possible that this could be talked through. She would just need to come across a way to approach him without letting him know that anyone told her anything.

John studied Kaly's face for a second. "Look, I didn't tell you any of this to make you feel shitty, which is how you are feeling right now, isn't it?"

Kaly just shook her head. "No. Well, I mean yes it makes me feel shitty, but I needed to know how my actions affected him. I mean I was thinking that I had done some kind of damage, but not to him, like emotionally. I honestly thought he'd be better without me being around."

John sighed. "Look, I don't think you meant to intentionally hurt him. I think you just left because, being as Vickie was also involved, you didn't want to get into it with her. But Zack was hurting."

Kaly nodded. "Thank you, John. For your honesty. Even though it was hard to hear, I needed to hear it."

John nodded. "What are you going to do now?"

Kaly's eyes darted down to the floor. "I have no idea."


	6. Chapter 6

Zack made his way to catering after he changed out of his gear. He had a seat near the door, so if she passed through the hall, she'd have to walk right by. The kiss after they had come back from the ring still running through his mind, he touched his lips and grinned. He turned on his iPod and started his music up and put his earbuds in as he reflected on the kiss. It had been better than he remembered. That made him smile even more. The thought of them together, back then, came rushing to his mind.

(flashback) It was a few weeks after their first night they had spent together, making out, his hands exploring all of what could be explored through underclothes. They hadn't gotten any further because neither one of them really thought it seemed like the greatest idea to go all the way at the time. Which, honestly, was enough for that first night. Their lips didn't seem to want to leave the others.

The first night they were together, really together, hadn't happened on purpose. She had had words with Vickie that night because Vickie had walked into the bar and saw Kaly with shot glasses. She marched over to Kaly and started screaming at her. Kaly said something smart to her, and to everyone's surprise, Vickie slapped her. Kaly stood to her feet, held her head up to Vickie and glared at her before picking up her last shot, tossing it back while staring dead in Vickie's face. She slammed the shot glass on the counter before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before storming out.

An hour later, Zack went upstairs to her room to check on her. He hadn't actually intended to stay. He was actually only going to knock on the door, make sure she was okay, then head back to his room. When he went to knock on the door, he noticed the door wasn't completely shut. He pushed it open and walked in. The television was on but there was no sign of her.

The room was a complete mess. There were clothes all over the place. However, not in the way that most women throw their clothes around when they can't find anything. This looked like this was done in a blind rage. There were a few small liquor bottles lying on the bed. Empty. He picked those up and tossed them in the small wastebasket by the sink. He looked up into the mirror. His shoulder length hair was a little messy. He couldn't help but think about how she would walk by and purposely mess it up. Then she would look at him and say, "You're welcome." That was all before they started to get intimately accquainted. Now they were careful of their touching each other, now that they knew that the chemistry existed between them.

"What are you doing in here?" came a voice from the doorway. Kaly stood there with the ice bucket, returning from downstairs getting ice from the front desk. She closed the door behind her. She had taken a shower before he had gotten there, apparently, seeing as her hair was damp and she was now wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"I was coming to check to see how you were doing." He noticed the ice bucket and took it out of her hands, taking it over to the sink. He picked up a hand towel and grabbed a couple of handfuls to put in the towel. He twisted the ends so the ice wouldn't fall out, then he turned to Kaly, who had started on the few small bottles of liquor that had been in the mini bar.

He took one from her and took the top off of one and threw it back, handing her the ice towel. She put it to her face and winced when the ice touched her cheek.

"Stupid bitch." Kaly hadn't realized she pushed it harder onto her cheek. "Mmmmph. Dammit."

Zack walked over to sit beside her and took the towel into his hand and held it against her cheek softly.

She placed her hand over his hand that held the towel in place on her cheek. She looked into his face and smiled. She couldn't help but smile at how gentle he was at this moment.

"Thanks, Cardona."

"Shhhh. Don't talk."

"You can stop whenever you want. It's starting to feel better." Kaly lied. She knew her cheek was stinging, and it would probably be very flushed in the morning.

Zack's eyes met hers. They held each others attention for a minute, until she finally looked away and got up. He stood up after her and walked over to the sink to put the iced towel in it so the ice wouldn't melt. He looked up to see what she was into now, only to see her looking at him as their eyes met in the mirror.

As he turned around to face her, their steps grew closer to each other, and she wrapped one of her arms around his neck and the other around his back, pulling him into a kiss. One of his hands found their way behind her head to pull her head to his, while his other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into him.

She pressed her body into him, which caused him to pull away to stare into her eyes. Their eyes met, and in that moment, it was as if they had never been more honest with any one in their whole lives.

He picked her up so that her legs wrapped around him. Her lips came down as a crash onto his as he made his way to lay her onto the bed as his one hand held her back, the other hand holding her butt.

When they got to the bed, he lowered her onto the bed, unwrapping her legs from around him and pulling off his shirt. When his shirt went over his head, his shoulder length locks fell somewhat into his face. She sat up to touch his chest as she moved his hair so she could kiss him. His mouth crashed into hers. One of his hands went for the back of her head as his mouth left hers to find her neck. She tilted her head so that he could have full range of her neck. He took note of that and took full advantage of the fact that at this moment, they seemed in tune with each other.

He explored her neck with his open mouth, kissing it, and sucking the same spots. Small moans escaped her lips as he found the places on her neck that drove her crazy. His lips left her neck as he stared into her eyes, his eyes feeling like they could read her soul at this moment.

She got up to her knees as she pulled her shirt over her head, exposing a pink and black laced bra. His eyes glanced down her body and he smiled. He was really enjoying the view. He hated that Kaly had to be slapped and him coming to check up on her lead to this. However, being with her, like this, in this moment, was what he had waited for ever since that morning after they made out and spent the night in his room. He had kissed her neck and she backed into him, and then there were those few touches. Her hands found their way near the waistband of his boxers. He was almost convinced that she did it on purpose, as part of his undoing. It worked; he had had to take a quick cool shower to cool off.

He thought about that morning as he stared at her body now, biting his lip.

"Mmmmm..damn you're so beautiful." Zack had said to her.

Kaly had smiled. She stared at him as she moved closer to him to unbutton his jeans. He put a hand on hers, and took his other hand and tilted her head up to his and kissed her deeply. His kiss had sent trembles through her. He unbuttoned his jeans and stood up to step out of them. She stared at his body in front of her. She had seen him in his boxers before, but this time was different. This time, she was certain. This time she knew exactly what she wanted.

She stood up to face him as he pulled her into another deep kiss. Her hands trailed down his bare back, her fingertips trailed the muscles that flexed under her touch.

His tongue found its way inside her mouth as he gently bit and tugged her bottom lip. He looked into her eyes, a longing stare between them. His arms wrapped her into his hold as one of his hands went down to grab her butt. His other hand rounded the front of her body, playing with the waist band of her shorts, his fingers dancing under it, just before unbuttoning them. They both pulled them off, and as she stepped out of them, he layed her back down on the bed and crawled onto the bed to hover over her body.

His hands trailed up and around her stomach. Her body shivered a bit at this touch, and she knew he could tell. She hated her body for betraying her in this moment. He smiled and looked up to her face, and she smiled at him coyly. He moved his mouth down to her belly, kissing all over her. His hand went up to her boobs, rubbing one of them as he kissed her belly.

She lifted up a bit and unclasped her bra from the back and tossed it over on the night stand. He grinned at her as she did that, moving up to take one of her nipples into his mouth, but not before licking it first. He suckled it as he grabbed her other breast with his other hand. He licked and suckled the other nipple just as he did the other one.

She could feel his arousal grow bigger as he licked and sucked on her breasts. She trailed her hands down his sides, to the waistband of his boxers, before reaching completely inside of his boxers and feeling him. She glanced up at him and their eyes met. She bit her lip before he claimed it into a passionate kiss. He wanted her now. Just like she wanted him.

His hands wandered down to her panties, and he felt how aroused she was for him. He proceeded to pull them down, exposing her. When he got them from around her ankles, he stood there and stared for a moment. Kaly was laying in front of him, completely naked, her guard was down completely. He didn't think he had ever wanted anyone as much as he wanted her in this moment.

He pulled his boxers off of himself, and caught her glance down to see all of his glory. Her eyes met his, and she let out a half laugh, half sigh. He could tell that she was going to try to be okay about all of this, but he knew that she was a little concerned about how endowed he was.

"Are you okay?" he had asked.

Kaly had nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She bit her lip and sat up.

Zack walked closer to her and sat on the bed beside her. "Are you nervous?"

"Kind of."

Zack looked down, and grinned a little and raised an eyebrow. "Not what you normally have had before?"

"I've only been with two other guys before...and yes. Not at all what I normally see." Kaly couldn't help but laugh. "Am I completely messing this up? Like are you turned off right now?" she had asked.

Zack smirked, and placed a hand on her cheek. "Kal, you couldn't turn me off if you tried. I'm into you. I have been waiting for this, for us, for a few good weeks now."

Kaly looked into his soft eyes, the sparkle in them had shown her that every word he was saying was true.

She smiled. She leaned into his face and kissed him again. Their kiss seemed like it lasted forever, until she noticed that he was kissing his way down her neck, to her breasts. His shoulder length hair fell around his face as he kissed his way down her belly, and it tickled her. She giggled.

The sound of her letting go, letting herself enjoy the moment, was a sound of amazement.

She watched as he stopped at her belly button and looked up at her, placing one of his hands on her knees, and pushing it to the side. Kaly pulled his hair out of his face as he made his hands made their way down to touch her crevice.

She inhaled sharply as her eyes closed, fluttering open as fast as they had closed. She looked into his face and he smiled at her, knowing that she enjoyed what he was doing to her as much as he was.

His finger glided down to touch her silky wetness. He slid his forefinger inside her entrance, as his thumb rubbed her clit. She moaned lowly as a breath escaped her mouth.

Zack smiled. He was enjoying every bit of this right now, but he would enjoy it even more when he was able to show her exactly how long he had waited for this, to explore every part of her.

He moved his head down to her slit. His tongue quickly caressed her crevice, before plunging it into her crease, slowly at first, only to pick up pace. One of her hands moved down to rest on his shoulder, partially digging into his skin with her nails. Her other hand had found its way to his head, grabbing his hair as she wriggled under his touch of her delicate places.

His hands moved to her hips to hold them in place so she wouldn't move. as his eyes glanced up at him and caught her eyes. She was biting her lip, half layed back, holding herself up with her elbows. He loved the way she looked right now, the fact that she was enjoying everything happening between them. He twirled his tongue in circular motions, making sure that every drop of her silky juices had been cleaned away.

Kaly felt like her face was flushed. A sudden heat wave rushed over her and she let out a loud moan, only to cut herself off, because she wasn't sure how close any of the other superstars were to her room. He bit his lip when he had finished up, smiling at her as her moved up to her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Kaly had started to apologize.

"Shhhhh...don't. You don't have to be sorry for anything." Zack said.

He wrapped her legs around him, lifting her into his lap as he grabbed the back of her neck, catching her mouth in a kiss that took her breath. Her arms wrapped around his neck, returning the kiss, matching the intensity and burning desire. She straddled over his throbbing erection, which she took into her hand and began to stroke. His eyes closed as he pulled her closer to him, his breath quickening as his eyes met hers, grabbing a handful of her bare ass.

Kaly had his shaft in her hands, stroking it in her hands, before she looked into his eyes and they both knew they were ready. She guided her hips so that her entrance would be close to his thickness as he guided it inside of her. As soon as she felt him inside, she felt her breath catch sharply, a loud moan escaping her mouth once again, one that was soon muffled by the lips of her lover.

Her eyes opened to look into his as he pulled away from the kiss.

"Are you okay?" he had asked.

She had nodded, not really knowing if that was true. In a lot of ways, she was okay. Hell, she was more than okay. However, she didn't expect that much force to be behind their first coital merge. He really must have wanted her as much as she did him.

She started to rotate her hips as she rode his erection, the look of his eyes, taking her by surprise. He bit his bottom lip as she rode him, then he pulled her into a kiss as he pushed her hair out of her face, holding it to the sides of her face as he held her cheeks.

Their eyes stared into each others, and in that moment, that was all there was. The two of them. There. In that moment.

Her mouth had found his neck while she rode his thickness; his hands had found their way around her breasts. He had squeezed them, and rubbed her nipples.

Her mouth found her way back to his. She had grabbed the back of his neck, and pulled him in. Their mouths exploring each other, as their hands roamed each other's bodies. Her arm wrapped around his shoulder as she pushed herself onto him completely. He felt himself inside her as deep as he could go, and he heard the sweet sound of her releasing her moans, and then, when he thought he couldn't love it any more than he already did, he heard her say his name as her nails dug into his shoulder as he pulled out, then pushed in deeper.

"Say it again, baby." came his reply. His hands caught the back of her head as he kissed her, his tongue exploring every inch of her mouth.

She had called him Matthew, his real name, not the playful Cardona he was used to her calling him. And not Zack, his in-ring persona. It sounded so sweet coming from her, while they were tangled in the sheets, their bodies so close.

"Matthew, baby." She tightened her grip on his back as she rode him into her ecstasy. His grip around her midback tightened as he felt her muscles around his throbbing erection tighten.

"Oh, Kaly." He said, only loud enough so they could hear.

He layed her on her back, kissing her neck.

Then, holding the back of her head, he began to thrust inside of her, as far as he could go. She reached her hands up to rest on his chiseled chest, admiring the man that was in front of her right now. He leaned in and kissed her before lifting his weight off of her and pulling her legs to be at his sides. He held them there as he got to his knees and began thrusting, giving her a good view of the top half of his body. She placed on of her hands on his, and he opened it to hold hers as he thrusted deeper. They locked eyes as his thickness explored every spot that sent shivers through her as she moaned.

"Yes! Oh Matthew, yes!" she exclaimed as they approached their finish.

His hands let go of her legs as he went back up to kiss her lips and his hand flew up to hold her head so she wouldn't hit it against the headboard as they both gave in to their climax.

"Kaly!" He let out a loud exclaimation, then soon wondered if anyone had heard that.

They laid there, catching their breaths, looking into each other's eyes. She had wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He had kissed her back, smiling. His hair had fell in her face, but she really didn't mind.

"I take it I did okay?" He had asked.

She had laughed. "If that was okay, I don't think I'd ever be able to prepare myself for amazing."

He had laughed back. "That would be you, little lady."

She grinned and nuzzled into his chest for a few minutes. As tempted as they were to take it another round, or make it an all-nighter, they knew they couldn't. Brian would be wondering where he was.

She pulled him out of bed and into the bathroom so they could take a shower. He couldn't resist her wet body next to his, so they decided one more round would suffice for now. He had pushed her up against the wall of the shower and took her as her arms locked onto him for support; not that he would've dropped her, with the grip that he had on her butt.

He had dried his hair really good and put on the clothes he was wearing earlier. She was pulling on her pajama shorts and a tank top. He held her close to him before he left. He honestly didn't want to leave her. They had kissed once more before he looked out the peep hole to make sure no one was in the hall. They had both agreed that no one needed to know about them.

When he walked into the room he shared with Brian Meyers, he took another shower so it would seem like he wasn't going to bed without a shower, or that he had already taken one. Brian had just walked into the room as Zack had turned on his laptop to check his messages.

"Dude, where have you been?" Brian had asked.

"I was out walking, downtown. I took a cab and just walked. By that light up place, you know the one that shoots up water? I was there." Zack had lied.

Brian laughed. "I didn't take you for a deep thinker, man."

Zack had looked up from his laptop. Brian just stared at him, studying him.

"Bro, if you're going to stare at me like that, I'm going to bed. You're creeping me out."

Brian had laughed. "Yeah. Okay."

Brian had walked over to his bed and pulled his blankets back. He then picked out clothes to go take a shower.

When he got out, Zack had already passed out.

The memory of seven years brought back so many thoughts, and also so many questions. He wondered if she ever thought about that first real night, or the weeks of trysts that followed. He had remembered how when Adam found out, he had been pissed; Vickie, however, was livid.

He looked down at his phone and saw that it was close to time to head out. He pulled his earbuds out and wrapped them around his iPod and put that in his jacket pocket. He walked out of the catering area.


	7. Chapter 7

Kaly was starting down the hallway as she saw Zack walk out of the catering area. Her feet slowed down. She wasn't going to avoid him all together; she just had to figure out what to say to him in the meantime. Or did she even say anything? How would you even start the discussion? "Hey look...you remember when I left and you went through a really dark period? How about let's hash all that out to the point that, if it was really as horrible as I was told it was, it'll be almost like a traumatic flashback!"

There were things she hadn't told him yet either. Things that she was almost sure he would have wanted to know. Or possibly not.

Their trysts had went on for about 5 weeks, and sometime around then, they had concieved. She was on birth control, but as much as Zack was on her mind, her medication routine was usually the last thing she thought about. She had missed about two weeks worth of pills before she caught on to it. She had thought to herself.."We're not going to get pregnant."

After they were found out, she left immediately. She had been gone for two and a half months when she started having the abdominal cramping. She had never experienced pain that severe, but she knew something was bad. She went to the ER, and pushed on her stomach, gave her a few exams, and to pacify them, she agreed to the pregnancy test. She told them, "It's going to come back negative, ya know."

When the doctor walked back into the room, he looked at her. "You might want to start picking out names for a girl or a boy because you are almost twelve weeks along."

She had stared at him blankly. Her hand immediately had went to her belly. It was a life inside of her. One that she and Zack had created.

Zack.

How was she going to tell him?

"We are going to schedule you for a sonogram, to see how the baby looks, and you will get to hear its heartbeat for the very first time." the doctor had told her. "And you plan on telling your partner, correct?"

"Yeah, of course."

How would she tell him? She contemplated this for 2 weeks. She thought about just showing up in the parking lot of a stadium whenever they came to the city and telling him then.

Her appointment for the OB/GYN for her first sonogram was on a Wednesday. When she looked on the screen and saw the baby, she fell in love. Some of it had already formed, its head could be seen very well, as well as hands and feet. The sound of the heartbeat flooded the room, and her eyes teared up. She waited until the nurse left the room to touch her belly and whisper to it. "I will love you forever, sweet pea."

When she left, they had printed out the picture for her and she walked out of the doctor's office holding the picture of her future in her hands. Touching the side where the baby was nuzzled into, she walked back to her apartment. She occassionally took her hand away, but not if she could help it. She didn't know she could love anything, anyone this much.

Then it hit her. She already had loved something that much, and she walked away from love. From him. The father of her child, who might possibly never know of his baby. She couldn't let her baby grow up without and father. She had to find a way to tell him.

She had ruffled through her old cell phone, plugging it up to the charger and retrieving Zack's number from it. She picked up her new phone and dialed it, patiently waiting.

"Hello?" came the voice of a girl.

"Yes...is this Zack's phone?"

"Hey sexy pants, it's for you!"

Kaly had hung up immediately. That fast? Was she that replaceable? She let the phone fall to the floor, numbly walking away. She walked to the couch and sat down, grabbing the throw blanket and laying her head on the pillow, layed on her side, with her hand on her belly.

She blankly watched tv that afternoon. If anyone would have asked her what she had watched, she couldn't have been able to tell them.

Her phone vibrated in the middle of the floor. She just stared at it. This happened 7 times.

"Hey!" came a friendly voice behind her.

Kaly whirled around to see Nic standing there.

"Hi, Nic. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Hey, good job out there tonight. I heard some buzz from some of the fans saying they like this whole thing, between you and Zack. I gotta admit, I think it'll be good."

"Thanks, Nic. Uh, what do they have you doing lately?"

"Oh my fued with Sheamus is about to pull around again, so that'll be fun." Nic laughed.

"Sounds intriguing." Kaly replied.

They were joking and talking back and forth when Zack rounded the corner. Nic saw him, and his eyes shot to her, then back up to him as he lightly cleared his throat.

"What's up man?" Nic said to Zack.

"Nothing bro. Nothing at all."

Nic stared between the two of them, and thought of something quick to make himself scarce. There was tension in the air, and knowing what he knew, this could possibly be Take 2 in the Zack and Kaly chronicles.

Zack leaned in and kissed Kaly on the cheek. She stared at him, not knowing what to do. All she could think about was, what she had been told. How hurt he had been when she left. What did this kiss on the cheek even mean? Did he think that they could just pick up where they left off? If that was the case, they most certainly couldn't. They needed to talk things over. Lay it all out in the open.

"You okay?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sleepy is all."

"Oh. Well do you want me to follow you back to the hotel to make sure you don't wreck?"

Kaly smiled. "That'd be sweet. Sure."

They walked out of the building together. He walked her to her car. When she was inside, he walked to his and got inside. He started his car up as she did hers, and he saw her pull out, so he did too. He followed her back to the hotel.

On the way back, memory lane took over again.

She had laid there for two days, just in a funk. That third day, after waking up that morning, she felt it kick. She darted straight up and held that spot that had been kicked by the tiny feet. She patted her belly.

"Come on, little one. Let mommy know you're okay in there."

A few moments later it was another one, and she swore she could make out the toe imprints. She laughed and cried at the same time. She began to read to her the baby, and putting headphones on her belly, so the baby could hear the music. She wanted to do everything right. She wanted it all to be right so bad.

She had an appointment scheduled four weeks out; which would be when she'd find out the gender. She really didn't care. As long as it was healthy. She also realized though, that if it was a boy, all the times she had called it sweet pea, would stay with her alone. She'd never tell a soul.

Six days before the scheduled appointment, she woke up in the middle of the night to excrutiating pains. She had to ask the doorman to call the ambulance to come pick her up. Once she got there, they took her to the back. She couldn't feel it moving inside her anymore. She poked around at her belly. Please be okay, she thought.

Her doctor came into the room and told her he would have to do an sonogram to make sure everything was okay. She didn't care, anything to make sure it was okay. They put the machine to her, but it was nothing. No movement, no heartbeat. Kaly's hand flew over her mouth, and her tears fell.

They told her they could let her see if she went into labor naturally over the next few days, or they could give her medicine to induce her. She couldn't carry this baby any longer, it would kill her even more inside than it already did. She wanted it to be over, as bad as it hurt her soul. It didn't take too long after they gave her the medicine for it to kick in. She gave about 5 pushes before the doctors helped to pull the baby out.

The nurse took the baby and wiped it off and wrapped it in a blanket. She looked at Kaly and asked her if she wanted to hold her. Her. A baby girl. Kaly just stared at the baby in the nurse's arms. She couldn't believe the nurse would ask her to torture herself like this. However, she was curious. She caught a glimpse of the face, and she nodded. The nurse walked over and handed the baby to Kaly. She held her daughter for an hour, thinking about anything that she had done wrong to cause her to miscarry. She couldn't think of anything.

The sweet baby's head had fit in her hands. She remembered thinking that the baby looked so fragile. She had named her Madelynn.

She was pulling into the hotel parking lot as she looked in the rearview mirror. She wiped her eyes as she made sure it didn't look like she had been crying. It wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think about the baby's sweet face.

She unhooked her seatbelt and opened the door. Zack had parked a few rows away. He was walking over as she was getting herself together.

"So, you wanna grab a drink downstairs?" he asked.

Kaly just looked at him and laughed. "That wouldn't be a really good idea if Vickie walked in now would it? If she saw me talking to you while we were sitting down there drinking, she'd probably slap me again."

"I don't think she would, alot of things have changed since then."

"Yeah, they have."

They just stood there at her car for a moment. They both knew what happened earlier tonight, in the hallway. They both felt that moment slow down to almost a standstill.

He looked away first, down to his shoes. Then, when he looked back up, she caught his lips with hers. He grabbed her chin in his hand and pulled her face to his as he brushed her cheek with his other as he pushed her against the car.

Kaly pulled away, and just touched her lips as her eyes studied his face. He stood there watching hers, not knowing what to say. She moved from the car, from being in between the car and him and walked to the driver's side door, slamming it shut. She just looked back at him, and sighed.

"I really think I'm going to sleep," she told him.

He nodded. "Okay, well I'll walk you to your room."

She nodded, not meeting eye contact. The whole way up to the room, she said nothing. She just stared down at the paisley carpet. A few times she looked at him, but her eyes never went past his shirt.

The elevator arrived at their floor. She walked out, followed by him. He took a few quick steps to catch up to her. They got to her door, and she pulled her key out of her pocket. She put it in the slot and watched it turn green. She turned the knob to open the door. She whirled around, to see his eyes looking around her room.

"Thank you so much for walking me up here. Making sure I got up here okay."

"Kal, please don't let this be weird." Zack said.

Kaly smiled. "It won't be."

He leaned in to give her a hug goodnight. Neither one of them had shut the door yet, and it wouldn't be good if someone were to walk by to see them kissing. They wrapped both arms around each other and hugged. As she pulled away, she thought about telling him. She would have to figure out a way. Just dropping it into his lap like this was a lot to take in in one night.

"Goodnight, Cardona."

"Goodnight Kal." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, not knowing that when he did this, she closed her eyes for a moment. He pulled away and smiled as she smiled back and walked him to the door, closing it behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Zack unlocked his room and walked over to his bed and sat down. Then he remembered that he had originally planned to get him at least one beer before bed. He almost got back up to walk back downstairs.

What exactly had happened outside, he asked himself. He tried his hardest to understand what happened between them, and what had made her kiss him in the first place. He definitely had not been expecting her to kiss him. Not that he was complaining.

There was something in that kiss though, much different from the one in the hallway, when they were just in the moment. This kiss was like, a need. A need for what he didn't know. Was it a need for just physical contact, like back then, or was it a different need. Like actually needing him. Not just for physical contact, but for...

He let his mind wonder for a few seconds then he quickly brought it back. No. Not this time. He couldn't risk it. He pulled his shirt off and proceeded to make himself comfortable. He jumped in the shower and let the water fall over him, letting every thought escape from his mind.

When he got out, he did a little social networking and put his phone on the night stand, plugged to the charger. He rolled over and tried to get comfortable. It took him a little while before he could actually go to sleep.

_Knock, knock, knock._

Kaly looked through the peephole that morning to see Vickie standing there. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

Vickie walked in, sunglasses on her head. She looked disappointed.

"Why are you still in your towel?"

Kaly had taken a shower earlier and put on her bra and panties. She had a flashing light on her phone so she walked over to check it. After she texted Emma back, she turned it to the home screen. That's when she saw it. The date.

Six years ago today, was the date she was supposed to have given birth to Madelynn. That must have been why the whole pregnancy saga ran through her mind last night. Memories had a way of creeping up. So, needless to say, she had been side tracked.

"Sorry. I'll just dry my hair and put on my clothes and at least a little bit of make up." She walked to her bag and pulled on her black dress.

Vickie put her purse down. "What in the world is with you today? You act like someone died."

The words poured out of her mouth and just cut Kaly in her soul. Her shoulders just dropped and Vickie noticed her wipe her face with the back of her hand.

Vickie stood up and walked over to Kaly. "I know we don't always get along, but..you were my best friend's daughter. She would want me to help you somehow with whatever is going on with you."

She looked into Vickie's face, seeing the look of concern. She leaned in and hugged her.

"Thank you, Vickie. Mom would be so proud of how you are handling your duties as god mother, even though I'm old enough to not need a guardian."

Vickie smiled.

"It's...today's the day. The day that Madelynn would've been born."

Vickie just stared, not really knowing what to say.

"Oh, I forgot. I'm sorry, dear."

Kaly nodded. "Yeah, six years ago today."

Vickie paused for a second. "Six?"

Kaly nodded, and waited. Vickie was sometimes a mean woman, but she wasn't dumb, by any means.

Vickie's eyes just shot her a look. "No."

Kaly nodded. "Yeah. It was."

"And he doesn't know?"

Kaly shook her head. "No. I called to tell him, but a girl answered the phone. I know we weren't really together that long but, it made me feel...like it was that easy to just move on to the next. It hurt." She looked down. "That number tried to call back 7 times, but by that time I had just blanked. It didn't last though, I had to get up. I felt that as soon as she kicked."

Vickie smiled. "How far were you?"

"Sixteen weeks."

Vickie pulled her into another hug. "Listen, it'll get better. It will. You have to tell him though. That was his child too."

Kaly nodded. "I will."

Kaly rushed to the mirror to put on her foundation, her eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara. Her hair had dried naturally so she just rain a brush through it; she would use the curling wand when she got to the stadium.

As Vickie opened the door for them to leave, they caught a glimpse of Zack walking by, and then he picked his head up, and did a half wave in their direction.

Kaly exchanged glances with Vickie.

How was she going to tell him?, she thought on her way to the stadium.

When they got to the stadium Vickie went ahead and went in. Kaly sauntered behind, making her way to hair and makeup. Natalya was getting her hair done. She looked up.

"Hey chick!" she said to Kaly.

Kaly walked over to one of the hair stations and motioned to the hair dresser and the bubble curling iron. She nodded and Kaly plugged it in and waited for it to heat up.

"Sandra has your dress in wardrobe." Nattie told her.

"I'm going to go put that on and then come back and do the hair thing. See ya later, love."

Kaly called a few of the Divas love, she didn't know why, it just seemed like a girly girl thing to do.

She walked to wardrobe and Sandra smiled at her.

"This dress is going to look good on you."

"Thanks Sandra." Kaly took the dress and went to the changing area. She stepped into the deep blue fabric, form fitting, coming down just above the knee. She asked Paige to help with the zipper. She obliged.

"Now turn around." Paige said

Kaly turned around.

Paige examined the dress on Kaly. She nodded. "Some of those guys will probably need to be shoved off with a broom handle. Hope Zack can concentrate on his match."

Kaly felt her cheeks flush. What did Paige know?

Paige saw her eyes get bigger. She giggled. "It's okay to like him. Just 'extracurricular activity' needs to happen away from being on the road."

Kaly just blankly stared at her.

Paige shrugged and said, "If it ever comes to that."

Kaly nodded. "Right."

She and Paige walked out at the same time. Sandra looked up to see the dress on Kaly.

"Yeah. I'd say it's saucy."

Paige laughed. "Yeah, saucy is a good word."

Nic walked by putting on his hoodie, not zipping it, getting prepped for his interview. He nodded, then he slowed down.

He pointed to the dress, then nodded at Sandra. "I like it. I think the fans will too."

"Now I have to go fix the hair and it shall be done."

Paige smiled. "Need help?"

Kaly shrugged, "Nah, but you can totally keep me company."

"What are you doing to it?"

"Curls."

"Oh. That'll be good."

Nattie was still in the chair, getting finished up. She say them coming and caught a glimpse of the dress. "Should we call the firemen now...or?"

Kaly laughed. "Haha."

Paige nodded. "Yeah, it's going to turn some heads."

Kaly went over to the curling iron and and started on her hair. It took her about fifteen minutes to finish it all. She sprayed a quick spritz of holding spray and looked at her reflection.

Nattie walked up behind her. "Really pretty."

Kaly smiled at Nattie. "Thanks."

Nattie was also another one that she liked being around. She was very likeable, and being that she was around when everything had happened, she hadn't once brought it up, so Kaly was thankful to her for that.

They all left the hair and makeup area to make their way to the tv in the hallway where a few of the others were already standing, watching John doing his promo in the ring.

Zack was in his gear, ready to head out. He walked down the hallway waiting for Kaly to be ready. He walked a few of the techs, and turned the corner. He saw Nic standing there talking to Cesaro. Nic looked up and waved Zack over.

Cesaro left as Zack walked up. They exchanged small talk, and Cesaro walked around the corner.

"Hey. You nervous?"

"No, not at all man."

"So, second night of having her as valet, huh? How is that working out?"

"The valet part is working good. Great actually."

Nic smiled. "That's good man."

Zack leaned in closer. "We kissed last night though."

Nic looked at him as his eyes widened. "Wow. Well I guess you aren't going to waste time getting to-"

"No, no, see, that's just the thing. I don't understand exactly what happened last night. I turned my head for a split second then when my head came back to hers, it was like," he took his hands and imitated an explosion. "And then she pulled away, and went back to acting like, nothing had happened."

Nic's hand went to his chin. "Hmmm. I don't know what to tell you. I mean, if you ask my opinion, I think you guys should try to see where this goes. I mean, she's been here like a good nine weeks. So possibly, if you want, give it like two more months to see how you guys feel about each other, then if you think it's going to work, ask her."

Zack just looked at Nic. "I really want to know why. Why just walk away like she did?"

Nic shook his head."Women do crazy things. They are crazy creatures, but they are beautiful."

Zack smiled. "Yeah they are."

"Just a heads up, keep a mental fire extinguisher. Just think about, things that wouldn't create that explosive feeling in your veins."

Zack just looked at Nic. "I don't understand what you're trying to say."

"Oh, you will." Nic walked away to go to the lounge where some people were just sitting around.

Zack walked around a corner and that is when he knew exactly what Nic had been talking about. During her down time on the road with Vickie, she had been working out, and it was as present as ever as she was standing there, in the dark blue dress with the single lace shoulder that embraced all the way down to her wrists, the other arm and shoulder perfectly exposed. He smiled to himself, and prepared to start thinking about things that would definitely turn him off.

He walked up to them around the television as she turned around and caught sight of him. She felt her heart jump into the pit of her stomach as she watched him get closer to them.

"Hey. You ready to go out there?" she asked him.

"Sure." He held out his arm and she locked hers into his.

As they made their way to the curtain, she had to keep reminding herself to breath and tell her brain to tell her heart to quit pumping so quickly.


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh radio, tell me everything you know..."

Zack's theme hit, as they walk from behind the curtain down the ramp. He released his arm from hers long enough to give his glasses to a kid with a big sign, and his headband to the kid's older sister. He then walked back over to Kaly, wrapping his arm around her.

She walked up the steps first, leveling the middle rope with her right high heeled shoe and lifting the top so that he could come into the ring. After he was in, he held open the top rope for her and made sure she didn't trip. Creative told her to make it look good, so she figured a kiss near the mouth would suffice, being as she was Zack's onscreen girlfriend whom he had been dating backstage. He touched her wrists gently with his hand as she did.

Just then, Adam Rose, being accompanied by Rosa Mendes, walked out. They were both sucking on identical lollipops, giving each other eskimo kisses. Kaly shot Zack a look out of the corner of her eye, and she just smirked, like "is this for real?"

Adam and Rosa pranced around for a small bit, then the referee signaled for the bell to start the match. Rosa had gotten out of the ring by now, and was on one side of the ring while Kaly was on the other side.

They locked up, Adam trying to push Zack into a corner. Zack pulled out. He paced around the ring, getting his momentum up. They lock up once again, and Zack elbows Adam. Adam holds his rib as Zack runs to one end of the ring, running into Adam full force with a clothesline.

Kaly stood out there, watching the whole thing. Zack looked in rare form tonight, he was doing very good. She caught a glimpse of Rosa's face, and she smirked.

"Come on Adam! You can do this baby! You're better than him!" Rosa was saying in her corner. She was making glances in Kaly's direction as well, making snarky glares and turning her face up. They head to make this look good, so she shot Rosa a sarcastic wave as she blew her a kiss.

While the girls were being catty, Adam had somehow gotten an upperhand and had Zack sitting in the corner.

Kaly made eye contact with him and then proceeded to bang on the mat at the edge of the ring. "Come on, Zack. You got this."

He shot her a glance, and a half smirk. He raised his fist to throw a punch into Adam Rose's stomach. Adam leaned over, walking away from the fists coming into his direction. He grabbed him by the arm and Adam lost his balance and fell into a corner. Zack ran up on him and performed the Broski Boot.

Kaly smirked and nodded in approval. "Yeah, that's it! You got it!" She motioned to Rosa, and pointed in the mens' direction, as if to say, ha, in your face.

Somehow, Adam had made Zack think he was down for the count. Zack decided that a splash from the top rope would finish the job. As Zack stood on the corner of the top rope, Adam got to his feet before anyone saw it coming and ran into the ropes, causing Zack to land on his privates. Kaly's hand immediately flew up to her mouth as her eyes widened. He climbed down as best as he could, hovered over. Rosa looked in Kaly's direction, laughing.

Adam shoved Zack around a bit before he used his body weight to knock him over. Adam tried to make the pin, not expecting Zack to flip, reverse the pin, and get the three count.

Zack stood to his feet as soon as the bell rung. Kaly, walked up the steps to join him in the ring. She climbed in as he helped her, taking her hand in his and pulling her to him as they embraced, excited over his victory.

"Oh please cut the crap!" Rosa had snatched the microphone from Lillian after she had announced Zack as the winner. Lillian was standing there staring Rosa down, not appreciative of having the microphone grabbed from her the way it was.

Zack and Kaly exchanged glances and then looked back at her.

"We all know the truth, you two aren't really a couple, like me and my love. So you two can drop the phony act."

Kaly motioned for someone to give her and Zack a mic. Lillian walked over to hand Kaly the microphone that had been given to her by the tech. She smiled gratefully to Lillian.

"Rosa, sweetie, what are you even talking about?"

"How about the fact that you and Ryder aren't really together, huh? It's all fake, the two of you."

Kaly pursed her lips and squinted her face as Zack tapped her shoulder. She looked at him, and he held out his hand for the microphone. She handed it to him.

"Rosa, what exactly is your point? I mean, just because we don't go around here making out like the two of you, doesn't mean that, we don't show a fondness for each other, in private."

Kaly smirked. She gave a laugh, and placed her hand on her "boyfriend's" shoulder.

Rosa looked at the audience. "Well, I think that the fans want to see some actual relationship things, since you guys are dating."

Kaly nudged Zack, who gave her a glance. He handed her the microphone.

"Oh Zack, babe, it looks as if we're being called out. Challenged even. Are we going to accept the challenge?"

Zack put his hand up, taking the mic back. "Okay, we'll accept your challenge, Rosa. Only if," he smiled, looking to the audience, "they want us to."

The audience begin to cheer.

Kaly smirked, as did Zack. Zack wrapped his arms around Kaly's back and pulled her into him as close as she could get. He grabbed a hand full of curls and pulled her face to his, his mouth crashing down onto hers as she placed one hand on the back of his neck and the other one on his cheek. The crowd grew louder.

Rosa just stood there, disappointed that her plan hadn't worked. Adam walked up to her to pull her to him so they could walk to the back. They walked back up the ramp, as Zack and Kaly finished their liplock in the middle of the ring, both smiling at each other. They pulled away from each other and he exited the ring, helping her out as well. He wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked to the back.

As soon as they got behind the curtain, they walked down the hall. Zack pulled her into a quiet corner, lifted her up and pressed her up against the wall as he claimed her mouth again, only this time, more passionately. He felt like he couldn't breathe, and that she was the air supply.

Kaly pulled away from the kiss, that is, after her thought process came back to her. She couldn't continue this right now. She pulled herself away from him, and stepped back.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We can't do this, Cardona. Okay? I can't," she looked down at the ground.

Zack just brushed her cheek with the palm of his hand, his thumb resting on her cheekbones.

"I don't even know how you can look at me like that. I mean, after everything I did. Just leaving and not saying anything, anything at all. You know, that was really shitty of me, and you have every right to hate me."

Zack just stared at her. He didn't understand where any of this was coming from. He wondered if it was possible that someone could've gotten ahold of her and told her about how she had left him.

He looked at the floor. "Who told you?"

"Does it matter?" she glanced away. "What matters is, I hurt you. I didn't know that. I didn't think that leaving would even matter. When I found out, about what happened after, you shutting down and everything," she sighed. "Matthew, the thought of it just...I don't want to think that I'm capable of bringing those feelings out of someone. Especially when, that someone is you. You don't deserve that."

He had planned on staring at the floor during her whole speech. That is, until he heard her say it. Matthew. Like she did their first time. He pulled her into him and pressed his forehead to the top of her head. He pulled her away to look into her eyes. They looked darker tonight.

Could he do it? Should he do it, admit to her that he had fallen for her back then, and that their trysts were everything he had hoped they would be if she ever would've let him get that far?

She looked to the side and then back to him. His eyes held so much in them at this moment. What exactly, she couldn't figure out.

She looked down before she opened her mouth. She closed it back, thinking better of it. She took a few steps to walk away, then she turned around on her heel. "I fell for you." She looked away, then back at him, as he stepped closer. "I didn't know how to feel about feeling the way I did, and I could've tried to handle it differently, and it was wrong and childish, leaving the way I did, and a very fucked up way to show someone that you love them, but I did. I did love you."

He reached out to touch her wrist. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, "Say it again." His eyes searched hers, as he held her wrists to his chest.

"I loved you."

He smiled, and bit his bottom lip. He pulled her in and held her face in his hands. He leaned in so his forehead could rest on hers and he kissed her, trailing her lips with his tongue. "I loved you too."

She looked into his eyes. She liked the way this kiss made her feel, like butterflies fluttering in her stomach. They smiled at the thought of their words, them finally admitting exactly what they should've told each other years ago.

"Well, well, well," came a voice behind them. They both loooked in the direction. It was Adam Copeland, better known as Edge.

"Wow, this seems like a bit of deja vu," he said as he looked between them.

"Adam, what are you doing here?"

"They want me to be apart of something on the network, so I came to talk it over with Stephanie and Paul." He glanced at Kaly, then back to Zack. "See you kids around." he turned to walk away, but not before giving Zack a "be very careful" look.

Zack looked back to Kaly. She glanced up to meet his eyes. "What do we do now," she asked.

Zack looked down. He honestly didn't know the answer to this question. He glanced back up, and pulled her closer to him as he pushed her head down to his shoulder so it could rest there. "I don't know. The only thing we can do is take it one day at a time. Give it a little while longer. Even though you've been traveling with us on and off for a little over two months, it'd be a little too soon."

She pulled away from their embrace and smiled. "We'll just figure this out as we go along."

Zack smiled back. "Hey, it sounds awesome to me." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips as he pulled away from her and they walked down the hallway to join the rest of the group that had gathered around the corner of the corridor.


	10. Chapter 10

(Four Weeks Later)

Kaly rolled out of bed, and walked to the sink to splash her face. She had dreamed of the baby again last night. It had almost began to haunt her. She knew that she had to tell him, soon. That was the only way she'd stop dreaming about it.

As far as she and Zack were going, it wasn't dating. They were just getting to know each other, actually knowing each other before they jumped into something too soon.

She walked over to check her phone and saw that she had a text. She went to the inbox of her phone and tapped the screen. It was from Zack. It read: Meet me outside in 15.

She replied back: You know it takes longer than 15 to work with this.

He messaged back: Okay, an hour.

She replied: Okay.

She jumped in the shower and washed her hair and conditioned it. Then she washed her entire body. She rinsed off in cool water. She turned the water off and wrapped the towel around her. She rubbed her favorite lotion on her, following with body spray. She got dressed in her jeans and a nice band t-shirt. She threw on some light makeup, lined her eyes and put on some mascara. She looked in the mirror, examining her wet hair. She decided to run the hair dryer through it for a little bit, just enough to dry it some. When she was satisfied with how she looked she headed out the room.

Zack felt like he had been waiting forever for her, though she was only about 10 minutes late. He stood by the entrance of the hotel, outside. He tried to look like he wasn't waiting, but, as Nic had pointed out, he was being obvious.

She had walked right past him, probably thinking he was standing in the parking lot by his car. He stepped behind her and grabbed her hand. She swung around ready to punch someone in the face, until she saw him. Then she dropped her hands. "You."

"I'm so glad I wasn't a strange man, because they definitely would be feeling the effects of that." He chuckled.

He noticed that she smelled really good. Almost like she had made an effort to look pretty. Not that she had to make much of an effort; in his eyes, she was the cutest when she was in her work out clothes with her hair up, with her neck exposed. He had been tempted to tease her quite a few times. Just when no one was looking, walk behind her and plant a passionate kiss on her neck.

"You hungry?," he asked.

"Is that a joke? You should know this."

Zack laughed. "You want to go grab something to eat then?"

Kaly just looked at him.

"Its not a date. I just feel like treating you to a nice meal."

Kaly tilted her head sideways. "Okay. Then let's go on our un-date."

Zack smiled as he lead the way to his rental. He opened the car door for her, and shut it after she was in her seat. He walked around to the driver's side and climbed in. He put on his seatbelt and started the engine. He smiled over to her as he back the car out of the parking spot, and put the car in drive as he headed out of the parking lot.

"So where are we going?"

"Anywhere you want for breakfast. Sky's the limit."

She just stared at him in amazement. "IHOP?"

"Done!" he drove around until he found the closest IHOP. He got out of the car, and walked over to open her door.

She just looked at him. "You know you don't have to do that."

"Oh, I know I don't have to. I want to."

He playfully grinned at her. They walked to the front of the restaurant, and he also opened the door for her. She looked over at him and smirked as she shook her head. A waiter showed them to their table, a booth. Zack slid in the opposite one across from Kaly. They ordered their coffee and she ordered a glass of water as well, he picked orange juice. They looked over the menu, and waited for the waiter to come back to take their orders.

She ordered a healthy omelet filled with veggies. He ordered his filled with steak. They both had two pancakes, also. They sat there, talking over food. She tricked him into looking some other direction and took the last bite of his omelet. He turned around just as she was putting it in her mouth. She smiled innocently.

"Cute."

"Well, I try." She laughed.

He just stared at her and smiled.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "Nothing, I just...I love seeing you smile."

"Oh Matt, you're such a sap."

Before either of them knew it, he was up to his feet, hovered over the table, capturing her lips in a kiss, grabbing a hold of her face. He pulled away and sat back down.

She stared across from her, where Zack sat. She could feel the kiss, stained on her lips. She couldn't do this anymore. She had to tell him the truth.

"Matthew, when we get back to the hotel, I need you to come to my room."

He had just finished drinking a sip of orange juice when he heard these words come out of her mouth. He almost choked.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I've never been more sure of anything."

"Okay, then I'll go get the check and pay for it all."

He's going to wish he hadn't been in such a hurry once he finds out, she thought to herself. The thought of what his face might be, or his eyes, how might they look, when he finds out the truth? She hated to see his eyes, which alot of the times where so gleamy and wonderstruck, go gloomy. She followed him out the door, where he once again, opened her door. He walked over to the driver's side door and got in. He turned to look at her, leaned over and pulled her face playfully into his, biting at her bottom lip as he kissed her.

She broke the kiss off. "Matt, just drive."

He looked at her, questioningly. He didn't understand exactly what she had to tell him, but judging from the sound of her voice and the sincerity, he really hoped it wasn't anything serious.


	11. Chapter 11

They pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and she went ahead and got out of the car before he could walk over and open her door. After she told him everything, she wasn't sure he'd ever attempt to open a door for her.

He opened the door and got out of his side, watching her walk ahead of him, with impressive speed. He wondered exactly what it was that had her in such a hurry. He had wondered if it had been because she had felt something in the restaurant. He walked up faster until he was beside her.

"Do you feel sick?" he had asked.

Kaly shook her head. She shoved her hands in her pocket, retrieving her key. She stuck it in the door and walked in. He followed her in, shutting the door behind him. She walked over the desk by the bed and sat down. Zack sat down beside her.

He reached over to touch her hand. She turned her head to face him, and placed her other hand on his. She stared at their hands before she looked up into his face and smiled. He smiled back.

She looked down at her lap. "Matt, this is the hardest thing I've ever had to tell."

Zack just looked at her. She's leaving again, he thought. He just looked at her, not saying a word.

She looked up to see his eyes on her. "I just want you to know that I...I really hope that you can forgive me...for what I'm about to say." She could feel the urge to puke. She had never been so nervous in her whole life. She could feel her voice breaking, the edge of tears.

Zack stared at her, wondering exactly what it could be. He raised a hand to brush her cheek. "Kaly...just calm down. Breathe. Whatever it is, I'm sure that I can forgive you." he held her head to his shoulders. "I'm not really sure anything you could do would make me not want to forgive you."

Kaly pulled away from him. "That's just it, Matt. You should hate me. When I tell you, I'm sure that you will. And-"

"Sweetie, whatever it is, we can figure out a way to work this out, whatever it is."

She looked into his eyes, praying that every word he said was truth, that they could, get past this in time. She took a deep breath and took both of his hands into hers.

She sighed. "When I left, I went to a Soho village in New York. I had a bank trust that I put in the bank when my mom died, insurance money. Well, I was living there for about 2 and a half months. I started having pains, so I went to the emergency room, not knowing what was going on. They asked me if there was a possibility that I could be pregnant. I told them I didn't think so, but they ran the test anyway."

Zack just watched her as her knees bounced up and down, something that she did all the time, years ago, when she was feeling really anxious. "Okay."

"It came back positive. I was pregnant. I let that sink in for a few days. I contemplated on how to tell you for two weeks. I had my doctor's appointment, the first time I heard the heartbeat." She closed her eyes and smiled, remembering how when the technician put the rollerball to her stomach, the baby had moved. She sniffled. "You could see, the head, and the hands, and the feet."

Zack just stared at her as she described all of this; he cupped his hands over his mouth. He moved them down to his chin and watched her face as she continued.

"Then I found my old phone, and I found your number, and I called it, hoping that you still had the same number. A girl answered the phone. So for a minute, I thought that maybe you had changed your number and they gave some random girl your number...but then she asked if I were looking for you...and she called you over."

He remembered that day. He specifically remembered something deep in his mind telling him not that day, to not bring a girl up to his room. During this moment of his life, he was hurting. All he wanted was a girl to numb the pain. When it came down to actually having sex with them, he just got up and left as soon as he was done. Which, had never, been his style. Ever. He remembered being called over from talking to Brian. He walked over as the busty blonde with long flowing straight hair handed him his phone. He held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" he had asked. No answer. He looked back at his phone, which was now back to his home screen, a picture of him and Brian that Kaly had taken of them on the beach one day, just hanging out.

He hit the "Recent Calls" button and found the number, calling it back. He heard her voice on the voicemail..why was she calling him? He called her back six more times. No answer either time. How was she going to call him, then not answer when he called back? She left, so basically that was like saying that she never reallly gave a damn about anything they had.

So he took that girl upstairs and blocked the thought of Kaly far from his mind as he fucked her in three different positions. Meaningless sex. Afterwards he had just pulled up his swimming shorts and walked out of the room. He made his way to his room, and punched the wall. How dare she even think that she could just call and...

But he knew. He could see her. He'd be mad, he'd have questions. But in a few weeks, he'd have forgiven her, and taken her into his arms, and really and truly make her his.

"I freaked out, and I hung up before you could get to the phone. I know, I left you," she looked away, "but I was so pissed off that you had some other girl answering your phone, even though it had been a considerable amount away from each other. We were never each other's, ya know? We never staked a claim, so I shouldn't have been mad, but I was." She shrugged. "I asked myself why for a few days after, why I would allow myself to get worked up. Then it hit me, I had fallen for you sometime during our moments, I had fallen for you."

Zack just stared at her. He glanced down to the floor, wondering exactly how to feel. They had concieved, yes. But where was the kid now? Did she get an abortion? Put the baby up for adoption? He couldn't imagine Kaly getting an abortion, as she bawled over commercials with the sad dogs with the sad song playing in the background.

Then he thought about adoption. Some strangers was raising his child. He looked down, and shuffled his feet around. He would've come forward and helped, had she just called back or answered when he had called seven times. He sighed.

Kaly watched him. She didn't know exactly what was going through his mind right now, but he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good, judging by the tension in his jaw, and him biting that corner of his lip.

"She would kick at night," she smiled. "I would read to her..I...Matthew I tried to do absolutely everything right," her voice cracked.

Zack turned sideways to face her. He was ticked that he didn't know about their baby, but something in Kaly's voice sounded like the story got worse. He took one of her hands into his, trying to comfort him. She pulled away from him and walked to the dresser; she couldn't be beside him when she told him this next part.

"It happened about 6 days before I was supposed to find out her sex, whether she was a she or a he. I'd never felt pain like that in my life. My doorman called the ambulance and they picked me up. They took me to the back as soon as I got there. They hooked me up to a machine to monitor my heartbeat, and a seperate one for the baby's. They brought in a sonographer also, and she put the rollerball on my stomach, but there was no movement, no heartbeat." Her voice broke.

Zack just sat there, not completely knowing what to do, what to say. This was possibly one of the biggest pills he had ever had to swallow. Not only did she leave without saying a word. They had had a baby, one that he knew absolutely nothing about, one that, had he known about it, he would have found a way to find her and take care of the baby with her. But no, she didn't tell him anything. Granted, she had tried to call him, but if she would have just tried harder.

He looked up from staring into oblivion, to look over at her. She was staring at the floor, not saying anything.

He took a deep breath, as he stood up to his feet. He had to leave the room, quick. He walked by her, pausing at her side. He grabbed her hands and squeezed them, and then he dropped them back to her side. He walked until he reached the door knob.

She came walking up behind him. "You have every right to hate me, for not letting you know when I was pregnant, for not giving you that chance to be a father. I wasn't thinking, I was completely selfish, and I am so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you." She grabbed his hand, holding them by his fingers. He looked up from the spot in the corner, not making his eyes go past her arms.

His jaw clenched. "I need to get some air. I just-I need space right now." He opened the door and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

He could feel it; the hurt, the anger, the pain. She just decided to dump this heavy load in his lap, that, not only did they conceive, and she miscarried, but she chose not to tell him about until now. She could have pulled him to the side, at the party. She could have told him at the beginning, when they first started hanging out. She could have told him after the first kiss in the hallway after the first night as his valet. There were plenty of opportunities for her to say something.

He went to his room. He pulled out his gym bag and packed his usual shorts and tanks. He grabbed some other necessities that he would need. He needed to work out; because that would take his mind away from it all. He took the elevator downstairs to the main lobby. He walked outside, and headed to the parking lot. He walked up to his rental, and unlocked the door. He climbed in and started the car. He put the car in reverse and his tires screeched as he pulled out of the parking space and drove towards the of the hotel. Then he realized, he hadn't even bothered to put on his seat belt. He yanked it from the side and fastened it, then pulled out. He drove. There were a few stoplights he ran into, but he didn't care; the drive was okay. He saw a gym to his right, and he pulled in. He got out of his car, grabbing his bag that he had packed before he left. He walked towards the entrance of the gym, stopping at the front to check in.

He saw a few of the other guys at weights. Nic was on a machine, working out his legs. He looked up when he saw Zack walk in. He finished his set and stood up.

"What's up man? I didn't think you'd be coming to the gym this late." He took a swallow out of his water bottle.

Zack just surveyed the room, trying to figure out on which machine he would take out his frustrations. He spotted one a few feet away, near a corner. It was good enough for him. He dropped his gym bag in the corner near him, and started stretching before he started up. He moved the weights heavier than what he had been used to, and began. He was so concentrated in his reps that he didn't notice Nic staring at him because he had brung the last one down a bit too hard, not usually his style.

Nic walked over to him. "Hey man, whatever you have going on, get it out, okay?"

Zack looked at him, then back to the machine he was using. "If I get it out, that makes it real. I mean, its already real, but then I'll actually be acknowledging it, and I don't know if I can do that yet." He let the last one go as it went down heavy, almost as heavy as his mind at the moment.

Nic raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Something happen between you and Kaly?"

Zack spun around quickly and lowered his voice, "Don't say her name..at least not right now. I can't...I don't want to hear her name. What she did.."

Nic stopped Zack in the middle of his sentence. "Whoa...man. If she mixed your proteins the wrong way, its still all good. Come on, whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

Zack just turned to face him, and he sighed. "It is. You know, you think someone is being completely honest the whole time, and then...you learn that they hid something from you..something huge. Something that could have changed my life forever."

Nic stood there for a moment, then he patted his friend on the back. "Come on, man. I'll buy you a beer, and you tell me all about it."

Zack shook his head. "I can't drink.." he sighed. His breath seemed a little ragged.

"Hey, look, I have no idea what's happening but it really doesn't seem like its a good thing. So, as I stand here, worrying about you, please talk. Because, lets face it bro, you never turn down an ice cold Bud Light Lime. What gives?"

He looked down at the floor, speaking quietly. "I would've been a father. Kaly was pregnant."

Nic's expression changed quickly. "What?"

"I would've been a father, had she only told me. Well, then again, she did try to tell me, but...I had another girl over that night. It was one of those nights when I just wanted to get her off my mind; the thought of her, how we would...you know."

Nic stared down at his friend. He sat down at the weight bench that was beside the one Zack was at. He shook his head, remembering. He hadn't known exactly what was going on with Zack, because they weren't really that close during those days, but he did remember it seemed like he had went down a downward spiral.

"Wait, you said would've been? So what happened? Abortion? Adoption?"

"The baby died. Inside of her. She was only five months along, so, she had to give birth, to our dead baby." He felt the few tears fall as he shook his head.

Nic just stared at Zack for a moment. He didn't reallly know what to say. He was sure that, more than likely, nothing would make this better. Then he thought of something. "Okay, suppose she had told you. And you went there. You guys went to all of the appointments, read all of the books, did everything right. Do you think that the outcome would have been different?"

Zack shrugged. "I don't know. But at least I would have been there for all of the little moments, the first time she saw the baby on the screen, heard the heartbeat." He twitched his mouth. "I don't know who I'm more mad at, me or her."

"Being mad at yourself won't change anything. Being mad at her won't change anything. You were both young, she thought she was in trouble because of you guys, and she just ran. It happens. Maybe she was learning that she was starting to grow feelings, and she didn't want that."

Zack nodded.

"Nobody knows why these things happen, why babies are given, but are taken before its time for them to be born. It seems harsh." Nic shook his head. "The only thing you can do now is know that, without a doubt, had things worked out how, more than likely, both of you would've wanted it to, you guys would have an adorable daughter, with a relationship full of love."

Zack nodded. He didn't know exactly how it happened, but somehow the conversation with Nic had calmed him down. Not to the point where it would just subside overnight. Like it would be like she never told him any of this, it would take some time. He and Nic continued their workouts, and left for the night.

They pulled into the parking lot in their seperate rentals. They walked up to the entrance together and went in the elevator. All of the Superstars were on the same floor. They got out of the elevator, waved goodbye to one another and walked off.

Zack unlocked his room door and walked in. He threw his bag in the chair and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. For a while, he just stood under that lukewarm waterfall that fell from the showerhead. He finished his shower, got out, and dried off. He changed into some boxers and plugged his phone up. He dug around for his iPod, shoved his ear buds in his ear, and turned on some rock music. He just wanted to drown out the sounds of his thoughts.


End file.
